How Unconditional is Their Love?
by Woody K
Summary: Penny and Dr. Crygor share a strong bond as grandfather and granddaughter, but that doesn't mean it can't be strained. One shots test the limits of their love for each other. Science, holidays and drama galore, the last few chapters make for some pretty heart wrenching lore. It's mostly just mundane family drama, but near the end, things get pretty dark.
1. Penny's Birthday

Today was Penny Crygor's birthday and who better to commerate the occasion than her granddad? Dr. Crygor stopped by her laboratory as she was doing some experiments with Mona offering to be her guinea pig, he knocked on the door and happily greeted her, "Happy birthday, Penny!"

Dr. Crygor hugged her granddaughter tightly, making Penny giggle nervously, "Ok, grandpa. Thanks for the affection."

"You're welcome. Your birthday party is so exuberantly great! It'll astound you!"

Penny was still nervous as she said, "Yeah, I'm sure. Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet, thank me later when I throw that party. See you tonight."

He left, assuring himself he threw the best parties but outside, Dr. Crygor heard Penny telling Mona, "I don't want grandpa to hear this because it could hurt his feelings, but he throws the worst parties."

The old man was shocked over being criticized, Mona stated to Penny, "Really? It sounded like he was gonna throw you a good one this time."

The redhead lamented, "I doubt it, he never put any money into them and a lot of his homemade decorations and presents explode. It's fine because I'm used to it at this point."

After having heard everything, Dr. Crygor stood motionless, pondering if that was really true...

* * *

A flashback showed several years of parties where birthday presents were exploding, banners were being lit on fire and disco balls were going off like bombs. Even when Penny was a baby, birthday cakes that her grandfather baked exploded, making her cry. In all of them, Mike heckled him by uttering, "I told you so."

* * *

After the flashbacks, Dr. Crygor tried to assure himself, "My parties and gifts aren't that bad. Are they?"

Suddenly, Dr. Crygor's lab exploded. He rushed there to see Mike and Doris 1, partially expovered in soot and cinders, but otherwise unharmed. Mike pointed, "Your present exploded. Again."

Realizing Penny was right, he hangs his head in shame and glumly walks into town. Dr. Crygor is drinking heavily and getting drunk at the bar in Club Joe, which got Jimmy T.'s attention, "Yo, Dr. Crygor, you don't look so groovy. What's wrong, man?"

Dr. Crygor slurred, "It's Penny's birthday."

"And?"

"I overheard her saying that I'm terrible at throwing parties and giving presents, everything explodes."

Seeing his ordeal, Jimmy put a hand on Crygor's shoulder and offered, "What if we help you out?"

Mona chimed in, "We can make sure nothing goes wrong and help you find better presents. That way, nothing will explode and Penny will appreciate everything."

The old man smiled at their generosity and said, "Crygorian genius! With your assistance, this year can't possibly fail!"

* * *

In the afternoon, WarioWare employees were pitching in to help Dr. Crygor throw the best birthday party ever in Penny's lab. To keep Penny from ruining the surprise, 5-Volt, 9-Volt and 18-Volt took her to the mall to look at lots of cool stuff.

Meanwhile, back at Penny's lab, Mona took care of the refreshments, Jimmy, Dribble and Spitz were in charge of music, Ashley handled the decorations, Kat and Ana set up chairs and tables. Also, Cricket, Mantis and Orbulon wrapped all the presents while Wario mostly camped out in the bathroom to avoid working.

While that went on, Dr. Crygor and Mike went searching for fungi in the Agate Forest and as the scientist picked collected them, Mike scanned them and pointed out, "Maybe we should put them back. My sensors indicate that these mushrooms contain a certain smell that attracts grizzly bears."

However, Dr. Crygor insisted, "I can't just dump them. They are aesthetically pleasing, they are rare because they have red, blue, yellow and green spots splotched on them, making them look colorful and extravagant."

"Seriously, it is your funeral."

"Quit being melodramtic."

* * *

Ashley finished Penny's ice sculpture, monotonously saying, "Ta da. It's a true masterpiece."

Jimmy organized the playlist, "Man, there are lots of cool choices for songs to play."

Kat and Ana said, "It all looks great."

Cricket and Mantis said, "We think so too."

Everyone else voice their agreement and satisfaction, Wario finally came out of the restroom and asked, "What'd I miss?"

Mona told him, "Everything."

"Whatever. I'm hungry."

"Not until she gets here."

"..."

* * *

At night, Mike saw Penny, 5-Volt, 9-Volt and 18-Volt and said, "Here she comes, Dr. Crygor. Do you have your present?"

Dr. Crygor looked at the table with presents on it, saw his and verified, "Yes I do, now get into position, everybody."

Penny opened the door and everyone said in unison, "Surprise! Happy birthday, Penny!"

She stood there, surprised by how everything looked, pink streamers and balloons were flooding the ceiling. The ice sculpture looked fantastic, banners with pink letters covered the walls and even the cake was pink. The best part was how nothing exploded. Dr. Crygor looked at Penny and asked, "You like it? I made it all with the help of everyone."

After a moment of silence, the redhead finally answered, "I...love it! This is incredible! Nothing's exploding! It might be your best effort yet!"

"Oh, Penny..."

The Crygors embraced, 9-Volt and 18-Volt were working a deejay system, playing the first song on the list, Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus, which Penny even sung while partying with her friends and loved ones. Thankfully, no explosions occured as people ate and danced.

Soon, it was time for slow dancing, a disco ball rotated above everyone Penny and Dr. Crygor did some ballroom dancing as everyone watched, Penny asked her grandfather, "Grandpa? How did you do all this?"

"Well, I overheard you saying that I stink at throwing parties and giving presents, so I wanted to redeem my track record of terrible parties and gifts by getting everyone to help me."

"Grandpa?"

"What?"

"I think you have succeeded with flying colors and I can safely say you really came through this time."

"Penny, you're so sweet and adorable with a heart of gold. I'm proud to have a granddaughter like you."

People said, "Awwwww."

Penny then said, "Grandpa, I..."

Suddenly, a grizzly bear smashed the doors down and roared, scaring everyone and making them all scream. The bear trashed the party, sending everything flying and crashing while making a lot of the guests run away to hide, only stopping to smell the rare multicolored fungi Dr. Crygor brought to spruce up the room. Mike noticed and stated, "I told you s-"

Dr. Crygor told him, "Don't say it. Wait...oh no! The presents!"

He rushed to the presents, he grabbed the one that was from him so the bear wouldn't destroy it. However, the bear then roared and ran towards Penny, she screamed and Dr. Crygor ran to her and pushed Penny out of the way, saving her as the bear hits him hard enough to make him hit his head against the wall, causing it to crack to the ceiling as a piece of it falls on Dr. Crygor, Penny freaked out, "GRANDPAAAAAA!"

She looked at the bear, slowly getting angrier by the second, her hands balled into fists and she growled furiously. Penny ran behind a door and came back with the same motorcycle that shrunk Wario into lots of small Warios, then she drove like mad towards the bear, like she had succumbed to road rage. As the bear looked scared and tried to run away, it turned around as Penny hit it with the motorcycle, sending the bear flying into the wall and damaging it, angrily stating, "No more, you stupid bear! No more killing, no more party crashing, no more bears!"

Penny struck the final blow on the bear with ramming into it with the bike, hitting it hard enough to make it crash in the wall and break a huge hole, the grizzly bear then fell to its death from a cliff by falling on a stalagmite rising from the water.

Once the bear was dead, everyone came out of hiding as Penny looked for her granddad, she saw his limp hand and panicked, "Grandpa!"

Removing some pieces of the ceiling, she was beginning to feel scared because Dr. Crygor was unconscious, making Penny sad as she held his face, "No, grandpa, no, no, please no."

Tears were streaming Penny's cheeks and her lips trembled as her grandpa still wouldn't wake up. Her worst fear was confirmed, her grandfather was dead. Penny took off her glasses, wrapped her arms around Dr. Crygor's shoulders and began to cry. As Penny sobbed over the deceased Dr. Crygor, everyone else formed a circle around her and bowed their heads in grief.

It was rare moment where even Wario felt a little sorry for one of his friends, he placed a few comforting pats on Mona's back and Jimmy did too. Dribble held Spitz in his arms and Orbulon held them both, 5-Volt hugged 9-Volt and 18-Volt hugged both of them. Ashley too felt emotional even though she was emotionless as she held Red in her arms, Kat let Ana bury her face in her neck as Cricket buried his in Mantis's shoulder. Mike sadly kneeled behind Penny, consolingly patting her back.

The whole room was engulfed in a melancholy silence. While Penny was crying, Dr. Crygor was gradually regaining consciousness and eventually woke up, standing up and asking, "Penny?"

That suddenly caused Penny and everyone else to look at him, the redhead put her glasses back on and happily gasped as she tightly embraced him, "Grandpa! You're alive! I thought I lost you!"

Dr. Crygor looked the present that was apparently flattened by the ceiling piece that almost killed him, he picked it up said to Penny, "You would have if not for my present. I hope you like it."

Penny opened it and saw a pink necklace with a big pink heart, she was amazed, "Wow! This is amazing! It's the best birthday present ever!"

"Anything for my granddaughter. After all, necklaces don't explode."

She had tears in her eyes again as Penny wrapped her arms around Dr. Crygor's neck and said with the utmost honestly, "Grandpa, I love you!"

He wrapped his arms around her back and said, "I love you too, Penny."

As Penny and Dr. Crygor hugged it out for a while, Dr. Crygor then asked everyone, "Should we keep this party going or what?"

Everyone cheered, 9-Volt and 18-Volt played some more music and the party resumed. Penny danced with Dr. Crygor and commended him, "Grandpa, you have made this the best birthday ever."

"Aww. Thanks, Penny."


	2. Making Movies

One day, Penny and Dr. Crygor invited all their friends to a movie night in Crygor's lab, the two scientists were pouring drinks into cups and filling a really big bowl with popcorn. Once all the refreshments were ready, they headed into the living room and Dr. Crygor greeted their guests, "Welcome one and all to the Penny and Dr. Crygor Movie Club!"

Penny then said, "Okay, everybody. Who's thirsty? Apple Juice boxes for Kat and Ana, coffee for Cricket and Mantis, Coke for Wario, lemonade for Jimmy T., Pepsi for Mona, orange sodas for Dribble and Spitz, tea for 5-Volt, fruit punch for 9-Volt and 18-Volt, milk for Orbulon and water for Ashley."

Everyone but Wario said thank you after getting their beverages, Dr. Crygor placed the popcorn bowl in the middle of everybody. The two Crygors sat on the empty couch while Wario rested on a reclining chair, Kat and Ana sat on some old little plastic chairs, one red and one blue, everyone else sat on the floor. The elderly man said, "We're so excited that you all could be here tonight for Penny and Dr. Crygor's Movie Club's feature presentation."

Wario asked, "What the heck are we watching anyway?"

Dr. Crygor had Mike's projector mode on, he scrolled through a selection of movies and asked, "Who wants to watch Zootopia?"

Everyone murmured out of unison, "Sounds great."

Mike put the movie in a hologram and it begins playing, Kat walked over to Penny and Dr. Crygor, complaining, "Ana's in my seat."

Penny simply said, "We decided last time: No reserved seating. First come, first served."

Kat was annoyed when Ana sat in the red chair and stuck her tongue, she grumbled as she reluctantly sat in the blue one, "Red is my favorite color."

A copyright warning came up on the screen, making Mona ask, "What's that?"

Mike said, "Just stuff that comes at the beginning of the movies."

Dr. Crygor added, "Yeah, that's on all the movies we dig up.

Mona said, "I don't know. It seems pretty important.

"Alright, let's take a look."

Penny and Dr. Crygor go up to the screen, the latter said, "Pause, Mike."

After Mike paused, Penny read, "Warning. Federal law provides severe and criminal penalties for the unauthorized exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures."

The Crygors got nervous, the scene cuts to them putting everyone out, Dr. Crygor told them, "Alright, well, goodbye. Sorry we had to cancel."

They closed the door, Penny panicked, "We have been showing these films unauthorized!"

Her grandpa freaked, "That's right, we have been disrespecting authority! Goverment agents may be coming after us!"

The members of the Penny and Dr. Crygor Movie Club were yelling outside as Penny opened the door, 5-Volt asked her, "Are we meeting next week to watch a movie?"

"Uhh...uh...yeah. Maybe. I think so."

Dribble complained, "Don't cancel the movie club! I've literally been having the time of my life."

Spitz concurred, "Me too."

Dr. Crygor addressed, "Calm down, everyone. We will have the Penny and Dr. Crygor Movie Club next week for sure. Penny and I just have to find a movie without that warning."

The club members leave, everyone was a little disappointed. Penny pointed out, "Grandpa, we've never found a movie without that warning. We're not gonna find a movie."

As Penny searched a closet, her grandfather asked, "What are we gonna do?"

Finding a camera, Penny gasps and excitedly declared, "We're gonna make one!"

"Eureka!"

* * *

The next day, in a clearing, Mona is holding a camera while Penny and Dr. Crygor had megaphones made of paper, Penny instructed, "Okay, Mona. Turn to your right and start filming."

As Mona followed the instructions, Dr. Crygor said, "Start to truck in. Keep going. Keep trucking in, Mona."

Mona went up to a couple of a random citizens, who were all like, "Huh?"

Penny said, "That was awesome, Mona."

Her granddad agreed, "Yeah. Fantastic, super."

Mona was confused, "I don't really what we're doing."

Next, they were filming Kat and Ana playing with a bouncy ball, 5-Volt watering her garden, Cricket stuffing lots of dumplings in his mouth and Ashley rolling coins down a brick wall by a river.

Later that day, back at Crygor's Lab, Mike looked all the footage uploaded in him via his USB port and said, "Weird. What else do you have?"

The Crygors also got clips of Wario smashing wood blocks with a hammer, 9-Volt and 18-Volt playing on a Switch with two Joy-Cons, Orbulon chowing down some Megaburgers, Dribble and Spitz in traffic as well as Jimmy T showing off some dance moves. Mike concluded, "I don't get it. It's just a bunch of random junk."

Dr. Crygor lamented, "I'm not engaged."

Penny brainstormed, "What we need to see is something that reflects life as it is, but entertaining, like a romantic comedy."

Her old man said, "Exactly. An action adventure."

"Wait, that's not what I said."

"Let's get to filming!"

* * *

On the day after, Mona filmed Orbulon at a farm as Dr. Crygor said, "Ok, Orbulon. Do a quadruple backflip off the barn. Action!"

Orbulon ended up doin only a triple backflip before landing in a mud puddle, a pig kissed Orbulon, making Dr. Crygor shout, "No! No smooching! Cut."

Penny argued, "I thought it was great."

"No, we can't use any of it."

"I think we should use all of it."

"No, not at all. We should throw away the parts where Orbulon was kissing the pig. That was dumb."

That offended his granddaughter, "Excuse me?"

"Duuuumb-ah."

* * *

Later, in a clearing, Ashley and 9-Volt were sitting on picnic blanket and Penny explained, "Okay, you're having a picnic, you're in love, but you can't admit it, so you're having a playful food fight. Action."

Ashley reluctanly threw a piece of cake at 9-Volt's shirt, he asked, "Why did you do that?"

9-Volt scooped some ice cream in his hands and flung it, it landed on Ashley's shoes and it became an all out food fight instead of a playful one, Penny said, "Cut! That was not what I wanted!"

Her grandpa disagreed, "That was awesome! We need to shoot more stuff like that."

Penny sighed, "What's next?"

Hours later, Mona was filming Dribble and Spitz attached to a chariot with 5-Volt dressed in Greek attire, she asked, "What are we doing?"

Dr. Crygor answered, "You're driving the chariot, when Dribble and Spitz make it take off, you'll say something like 'check please.'"

His granddaughter disapproved, "That not such a good idea."

He simply said, "Action."

However, the chariot was clearly too shoddy because it fell apart when Dribble and Spitz moved it forward an inch, 5-Volt was confused and said, "Check, please...?"

Penny giggled a little, "Well, I thought it was funny."

Dr. Crygor stated, "This isn't a comedy!"

"Not the way you're shooting it."

* * *

By sundown, a wedding scene was underway, Jimmy T. was in a tuxedo and 5-Volt was in a dress, Penny gave details, "Ok, Jimmy, you're playing Tim Jackson. 5-Volt, you will confess that you never loved Tim Jackson and that you were just trying to win a bet with your snooty socialite friends. Then, you both realize you really do love each other and you both say "I do."

Both nodded understandingly, 18-Volt played the reverend and asked, "Do you, Tim Jackson, take this woman to be your lawfully married wife?"

Jimmy T started to perform a little dance, 5-Volt giggled and blushed, but Penny look uncomfortable and yelled, "Cut! Jimmy, you weren't supposed to dance."

5-Volt said, "It's fine, Penny."

Penny said, "No it's not. It's supposed to have romance, not action."

Then, Jimmy said, "Hey, loosen up, kid."

Unfortunately, Penny was upset over her creative vision being severely compromised, she screamed and whined at them as the camera switched to 18-Volt, who asked uneasily, "Check, please?"

Back at Crygor's Lab, Penny asked, "How much longer until you finish editing, Mike?"

Mike replied, "About twenty hours."

Both Penny and her grandpa were shocked and asked in unison, "Twenty hours?!"

"Yes, you two shot a lot of footage. About twenty hours."

Dr. Crygor then said, "Penny, let's talk about our movie."

"Okay."

"I think we shot a lot of great stuff, but I'm thinkin' only half of it is usable."

"Me too."

"Really?"

"Yes, I was just thinking that."

"That's great!"

I know.

"You actually agree it's an action adventure!"

"Yes, it...wait! No!"

"What?"

"Romantic comedy!"

"What?!"

Dr. Crygor then asked, "Whose side are you on, Mike?"

Mike blurted, "Don't care."

Penny said, "Romantic comedy!"

Her grandfather shot back, "Action adventure!"

"ROMANTIC COMEDY!"

"ACTION ADVENTURE!"

Finally, Penny threw an angry tantrum, she jumped up and down like a child while shrieking like a toddler before running out and back to her lab, slamming the door as she left.

Her grandfather angrily walked into his bedroom to do a little venting too, Mike saw everything and wondered if he could do something.

One week later, it was movie night again and Dr. Crygor addressed everyone, "I hope you all are ready to be on the edge of your seats for tonight's action adventure film."

Penny mumbled, "It's supposed to be a romantic comedy, isn't it, Mike?"

Mike remained silent, Dr. Crygor said, Well, I guess we'll see."

"Yeah, I guess we will. Start the movie, Mike."

The club members clapped and looked nervous, Penny and Dr. Crygor were sitting far away from each other. Kat whispered to Ana, "It's a little awkward."

Mike sighed, pressed a button on himself and a projected the movie.

What Mike showed was Penny and Dr. Crygor's happiest memories together, including father daughter dances, picnics, doing science experiments and walks in the park where they rolled around on the grass and lovingly hugged each other. Heartfelt piano music was heard and all of the memories reminded the two Crygors how much they loved each other and their hearts gradually softened.

When the video ended, the club applauded, Penny hugged Dr. Crygor, wrapping her arms around his shoulders while he had his arms around her waist, they both said to each other, "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!"

Everyone said, "Awww."

Mike smiled at his attempt to fix their relationship, "I knew they couldn't stay mad at each other. Sometimes, people just need to be reminded of all the good times they had."


	3. Fear of Shots

It was time of the year again, Dr. Crygor notified Penny, "Today's your checkup, Penny. You know what that means!"

Penny, for some reason, was petrified and had a panic attack, "No, please! I don't want a shot!"

Mike pointed out to Dr. Crygor, "Let's be honest. Nobody particularly enjoys getting shots. Not even you. Shots make me feel lucky to be a robot."

Dr. Crygor tried to calm Penny down, "They're not that bad."

However, Penny whimpered, "They hurt. They're painful. Please don't do this, grandpa."

In the past, doctors would always assure her they weren't painful. However, Penny would always feel pain when getting a shot as a little girl and now was too scared to get one anymore, just thinking about needles were able to trigger a reaction that was more serious than momentary discomfort. Her full-blown needle phobia almost induced extreme anxiety to the tune of dizziness, nausea, chest pain and a racing heart. Worse, it made her want to stop getting important vaccines and stop going to the doctor altogether.

He withheld the information just so Penny wouldn't worry. One surefire way to stress her out about a shot was to make her worry about it incessantly in the preceding days and weeks. If he had told her earlier, that dread would have done nothing but amplify the fear and make the appointment itself more panic-inducing.

Dr. Crygor told her, "Now, Penny. Being afraid of a shot is normal, but you can't just avoid them. I don't like needles either, I used to have a fear that prevented me from getting immunized, which affected my long-term health. Eventually, I conquered it."

Mike added, "I have seen that fear prevents patients from getting shots and lab tests. I've seen people pass out. It's a real fear."

For Penny, her fear of needles corresponded with the number of vaccine injections she received in a single doctor visit as a young childr. She got lots of shots in one sitting, her fear became more severe as a result. Receiving several shots at once was especially difficult for children, she was no different. Penny had developed an intense fear of needles that persisted after receiving four immunizations at one time. Her grandfather said, "If you don't, you could get sick and infect people. You don't want that, so come with me. It'll be over before you know..."

He realized Penny was gone, Dr. Crygor assumed she was hiding. He found her in a closet, held her hand and said they walked to the doctor's office, "Come on, Penny. Be brave."

She only swallowed nervously as she followed her grandpa to the medical center.

At the waiting room, Dr. Crygor looked at some magazines while Penny just sat in a chair, remaining silent as her fear drew near. She looked at all of the other children that were younger than her, fearing the worst for them because they would get shots too.

Once Penny's name was called by a nurse, she was shaking a little as she slowly and reluctantly headed for one of the doctor's exam rooms. Dr. Crygor followed her down the hallway. Then, the nurse checked Penny's weight with a scale and had her stand back against the wall to measure her height.

They went into the exam room, Penny took her time sitting on the patient's table as her grandfather reminded her, "When you get vaccinated, it protects the most vulnerable by breaking the chain of infection that viruses rely on to spread. A virus has a much tougher time reaching a vulnerable person if everyone in his or her household is immunized. You know that, right?"

Penny nervously nodded. The nurse left the office and the doctor came in. After checking Penny's heartbeat with a stethoscope, her blood pressure with a cuff and her facial orifices with a light, it was time. When the doctor pulled out the syringe, Penny gasped in horror and tried to run away, but her grandpa kept her in place, telling her, "Penny, please. Just try to tough it out."

She said, "I can't, grandpa. I don't like sharp objects!"

"It's for your own good. Without a shot, you could be ill!"

Seeing how typical it was for patients to freak out over a needle, he just sat down waited for the drama to cease. Penny kept struggling to escpae as Dr. Crygor held her in place as she tried to head for the door, begging, "No! Please! I don't want a shot!"

Dr. Crygor began to get mad and scold her, "Penny Janice Crygor! I demand that you stop misbehaving this instant! You need to get a shot right now or you'll get people sick! UNDERSTAND?!"

Uh oh, middle name. Yelling only made things worse, the way Dr. Crygor raised his voice at Penny broke her heart. Her eyes watered, her lips trembled and Penny began to cry.

The way Penny was sobbing was when Dr. Crygor realized he went too far and felt really bad for loudly shouting at his granddaughter, his face slowly went from angry to guilty. He removed Penny's glasses and dried her tears, comforting her, "Penny, it's ok. I am deeply sorry for hurting you with my outburst. All I want is for you to be healthy and not catch a disease."

Penny choked between sobs while fighting back another round of tears, "But...I'm not brave like you when it comes to shots."

"I understand that you're scared because shots hurt, but the pain is only brief. The prick only lasts for several seconds."

"I can't help it, grandpa. I'm just so terrified."

"Maybe there are some ways I can help you feel less scared. Try reframing your thinking. It may sound easier said than done, but consider this: phobias are, by definition, extremely irrational fears. Remind yourself that any pain associated with shots or blood draws are over almost instantaneously."

The doctor added, "Staying positive minimizes discomfort. The minute you roll up your sleeve, just think positive thoughts. Tell yourself that it's not going to hurt and it'll be over in a minute."

Penny sniffled, "...ok."

Dr. Crygor asked, "Feel better, Penny?"

"A little."

He opened his arms, saying, "Come here, my poor baby."

She eagerly let her old man hug her tightly to console her, Penny slowly but surely regained her composure as Dr. Crygor held her in his arms, patted her back and stroked her hair, waiting for her sadness to repress as she wept into his shoulder. In a few minutes, Penny stopped crying and Dr. Crygor asked her, "May the doctor give you a shot now? I'll take you out for ice cream as a reward if you be a good girl and let him give you your immunizations."

After Penny put her glasses back on, she smiled a little and said, "Yes, grandpa. I'm ready."

The doctor said, "Finally."

Penny was finally ready to suck it up and get that shot. She lied down on the table, rolled up her sleeve, turned her head away to face the wall and closed her eyes as her grandpa confided in her, "The best cure for fear of needles may be simply getting the shot and proving to yourself you can do it. Just do everything you can to distract yourself from it."

While waiting, Penny kept her head turned away and hummed a little song so she could focus away from what the doctor was doing.

As she felt a prick in her arm, Penny cringed slightly as tried not to think about it. She counted, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5."

Finally, the shot was over. The doctor put a bandaid on her arm to contain any bleeding, telling her, "All done. You're free to go."

Relived, Penny got off the table and Dr. Crygor asked, "See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

She answered, "No. You were right about how quick it was."

"Trust me. You'll be better off in the long run for getting that shot."

"I know."

"No hard feelings?"

"Not at all. Water under the bridge."

They shared a hug as Dr. Crygor said, "I love you, Penny."

"I love you too, grandpa."

"Wanna get some ice cream?"

"Ok."

They held hands and happily exited the doctor's office as they left the medical building and headed for the Gelateria.


	4. Father Daughter Dance Off

Penny was really looking forward to the father daughter dance contest at Diamond Academy. She went out and bought a new pink dress for the occasion and also notified Dr. Crygor, who pointed out, "But Penny, I'm not your dad, I'm you granddad."

She said, "They don't need to know that. Try this dark blue suit, we'll sort of match."

Dr. Crygor tried on a dark blue jacket with a white shirt underneath, he had tried on a dark blue pair of pants. They fit him alright, but he sweated a little over the upcoming event. Penny remarked, "You look great, grandpa."

"I still don't know about this."

"Come on, you'll be a good dancer."

* * *

What followed was a little montage of Dr. Crygor being somewhat incompetent when it comes to dancing as they rehearsed in Penny's lab.

First, he repulsed her granddaughter by doing that awful dance move that emptied Club Joe.

Next, he tried to ballroom dance with Penny, but kept losing his footing, which was strange considering that he didn't have any problems with ballroom dancing at Penny's party, he thought he may have gotten rusty.

Finally, he screwed up with the Tango, Waltz, the Scottish, Ballet, the Mario, breakdancing, etc.

Penny sighed in defeat, saying, "I give up."

Dr. Crygor said, "Don't give up."

"I just don't think you're good at any dance technique. Maybe I should just get someone else."

"Come on..."

"No! You keep screwing up! I'm done!"

She went outside to calm down, her grandfather hung his head in shame and loafed around town, getting Jimmy T.'s attention as he asked, "What's up now?"

Dr. Crygor bemoaned, "Penny says I'm a terrible dancer. Now she thinks I'll embarrass her at her school Friday night."

"Well, being a dance expert, perhaps I can be your mentor. We have a few days to help you turn things around."

"Please do so."

* * *

Meanwhile, Penny was hanging out at Club Joe. She still hadn't found a good substitute, then she overheard Dr. Crygor and he sounded like he was in pain. She looked at the dance floor and saw her grandfather under intense training and sweating profusely, Jimmy T. was coaching him and said, "Seriously, dude. I've already taught you every move I know and you followed every instruction carefully. Your dancing had become excellent, I think you're ready."

"No I'm not! I need more training! I can't let Penny down!"

Penny looked a little sorry for her grandpa, seeing how much he was straining himself while performing more dance moves. She saw that he was doing a lot moves very well and getting a lot of attention.

* * *

The next day, Penny visited Dr. Crygor is his lab and saw that he was lying on the floor, tired from forcing himself to do more dancing, she kneeled down and tried to wake him up, "Grandpa?"

He woke up and asked, "What?"

"I noticed you've practiced a lot. I've been thinking, you're my grandpa and I could never replace you, so I hope you can still come to the dance with me."

"Won't you be humiliated by badly I dance?"

"Your training proves otherwise. Besides, I'd dance badly with you than dance amazingly without you."

"Oh, Penny."

They shared a hug as they resolved their issue.

* * *

The night of the dance soon arrived. Penny looked so good in her pink dress with her orange hair and blue eyes that almost matched. Dr. Crygor was really quite proud to be seen with her as he had his dark blue tux on and they made their entrance. She really did look that adorable, Penny looked like a princess to him, she even had on that necklace he gave her on her birthday.

As for the dance, the ball was held at Diamond Academy, they were several banquet rooms, but they soon found the correct one. They were really quite taken aback when they entered the room. There was a band playing and sharply dressed waitresses serving drinks. Everyone in the room was dressed to the nines, the fathers looking rather sharp and the daughter quite lovely in their dresses and gowns. The old banquet room itself was extremely ornate, with large crystal chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. The whole effect was quite spectacular and rather breathtaking.

Penny and Dr. Crygor sat down at a table and good view of the band and the dance floor from where they were sitting. Several other students were dressed in a satin black dress, others sported different colored dresses with diamond earrings that dangled from their ears while others were showing off their high heels.

After the elegantly dressed waitresses brought around trays of hors d'oeuvres and took everyone's drink orders, the band took a break. The principal of Diamond Academy served as the host and stood prominently in the middle of the dance floor to make a small speech. It was basically the usual canned speech about how good everyone looked and how proud he was of the students. After the speech, the principal explained how the dancing competition was after dinner and how everyone would get a chance to show off their stuff.

The band resumed it's playing as Dr. Crygor took Penny by the hand as he asked, "Waltz, my dear?"

She just smiled as she rose from her seat and followed him onto the dance floor, everyone was waltzing to the music as the band played on.

As Penny and Dr. Crygor waltzed around the room, Dr. Crygor was proud to be dancing with such an adorable, bubbly granddaughter, the way Penny came alive on the dance floor as she moved in time to the music held amazed a lot of people. Her old man didn't lose his footing once.

When the waltzing was over, they returned to the table and resumed sipping water until the food was brought out. The food was quite delicious and wonderfully presented. The food was in fact so good, it was almost enough to draw everyone's attention away from the contest.

Following dinner, the plates were cleared and the waiters came out with our coffees and dessert. As everyone was sitting and eating our mousse, the principal again made an announcement from the center of the dance floor. The dancing competition would soon begin. Immediately following the announcement, the band resumed playing. This time the music had a lively Latin beat.

The music was loud and lively. You could actually feel the pulse of the music in the vibrations of the old floor boards beneath their feet. It started with one female student and her father joining hands and beginning to dance the Rumba. As their moved on the wooden floor, their hips pulsed and swayed in time to the music. Their movements formed a rhythm that often seemed to lock them together as one. At the end, they got three 8s from the judges for a total of 24.

As the father and daughter duos danced, every couple did their thing in the middle of the floor, it once again became a bit of a free for all. The progression of time combined with the open bar was making for somewhat of a real party atmosphere. The highest score so far was 29. Once Penny and Dr. Crygor were up, he gulped nervously as Penny assured him, "No matter what happens, we still have each other. Even if we lose, it'll still be fun to participate."

Feeling a little more confident, Dr. Crygor held out his hand and Penny took it in hers, he led her gently to the dance floor and they began to dance to the Latin beat coming from the speakers. Their hips began to move together rhythmically in time to the music as they made their way across the dance floor with their arms intertwined and stepping hand in hand. He spun Penny around as the floor vibrated beneath their feet. As the music came to an end, Dr. Crygor dipped Penny, who dramatically bent back and extended her left leg up in the air, her orange pigtails nearly touching the floor.

All the cheering had gotten louder, the loudest it had ever been all night. Penny and Dr. Crygor got a perfect score of 30 and won. In addition to a huge trophy, Penny got a little princess tiara to wear while her grandpa recieved a crown that a king would wear. His granddaughter hugged him tightly, beaming, "You were incredible, grandpa! Those lessons really paid off! With your killer moves, we'll win all sorts of contests!"

"We sure will."

They continued taking bows for their cheering audience. When they left, they looked like star baseball players leaving the field as people whistled and clapped.


	5. Penny the Vegetarian

One day, Penny and Dr. Crygor went to the Diamond City Petting Zoo, Dr. Crygor was trying a feed a can to a goat, goading it, "Come on, eat the can. Come on!"

Mike reminded him, "You're supposed to feed it pellets from that machine."

Meanwhile, Penny was petting a little lamb, telling it, "Aw. You are so cute, yes you are. I love holding you."

She giggled when the lamb licked her face.

Hours later, Dr. Crygor served Penny dinner at his lab. He served lamb, but that made her think about the lamb she petted, Penny heard it talk in her head, "Please, Penny. Don't eat me. I though you loved me."

Penny just sat there, not saying anything or moving a muscle, her grandpa was concerned and asked, "Something wrong, Penny?"

"I can't eat this. I can't eat a poor little lamb."

"This is lamb, not _a _lamb."

"What's the difference between this lamb and the one that kissed me?"

Doris 1 answered, "This one spent two hours in the broiler."

Her granddad then asked, "I can make something else if you want. You like chicken breasts?"

She thought of a chicken being killed and served on a plate, she said, "No."

"Rump roast?"

Penny thought of a slaughtered cow being cooked and said, "No."

"Hot dogs?"

His granddaughter sweated at the thought of four random animals turning into a hot dog. Penny then told him, "No! I can't eat any of them."

"Penny, are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?"

"No."

"Ham?"

"No."

"Pork chops?"

"Grandpa! Those all come from the same animal!"

"A wonderful, magical animal."

* * *

At the Peridot Campgrounds, Dr. Crygor had a little barbecue and invited some of his friends, including Jimmy T., Mona, Kat, Ana, Cricket and Mantis, much to Penny's chagrin. He filled up two barbecues with lighter fluid and lit them up, but before he could starting cooking of the chicken, pork or beef, Penny then said, "Guys, we don't have to eat meat. I made gazpacho for everyone."

People were murmuring, Kat asked, "What's gazpacho?"

"Tomato soup served ice cold."

Everyone laughed, Penny sadly put the bowl on a table and walked away. Everyone enjoyed all the meaty confections Dr. Crygor made. Penny was moping inside a cabin and bemoaned, "It's bad enough they're all eating meat. They don't have to rub it in my face."

She watched from a window as her grandfather had another grill and announced, "Ok, everyone. It's the moment you've all been waiting for."

He opened the grill and revealed a pig with an apple in its mouth, saying, "Behold, the pig de resistance."

Everyone marveled at the pig, but for Penny, that was the last straw.

Penny stole the pig, pushing the grill out of the campground and up a steep slope, while Dr. Crygor shouted, "Penny! No!"

He chased after her. When Penny got to the top of the slope, the grill started rolling downhill, building up speed. Her old man now chased after the grill while it rolled into a street and through a hedge. Dr. Crygor assured himself, "It's just a little dirty. It's still good, it's still good!"

As Dr. Crygor kept running after the grill, it rolled into traffic (miraculously missing every car) and crashed into a bridge railing. The pig kept going and ended up splashing into the river. He said, "It's just a little slimy. It's still good, it's still good!"

The pig floated downstream to a dam where it got caught in the spillway, blocking it. Water built up behind the pig until the pressure pushes the pig the rest of the way through the spillway, blasting it into the sky. Dr. Crygor watched from on top of the dam, "It's just a little airborne. It's still good, it's still good! Oh, who am I kidding? It's gone!"

After the pig incident, Dr. Crygor sobbed hysterically, he cried while walking back to the barbecue, then he got angry and yelled, "Penny, you ruined my barbecue! I demand you apologize right now!"

However, Penny shouted, "No! I'm never, ever apologizing because I was standing up for a just cause and you were wrong, wrong WRONG! Would it kill you to not eat poor animals?!"

"I don't need serving suggestions from a barbecue wrecking brat!"

"THAT'S IT! I DO NOT WANT A PREHISTORIC CARNIVORE AS A GRANDPA! I AM OUT OF HERE!"

As Penny stormed off, being called a prehistoric carnivore hurt her grandpa's feelings. He slowly transitioned from being angry to sad as she walked out of his sight.

Penny saw media influences everywhere saying to eat meat in Diamond City, from Gigantaburger's beef-flavored chicken burgers to a hosptial billboard chaging from saying not to eat beef to saying to eat deer.

She headed to a gas station convenience store and sees a deal where one coin can buy 8 hot dogs, she groaned, "Ugh! The whole world wants me to eat meat. I just can't fight it anymore."

Caving in, Penny reluctantly bought a hot dog and slowly took a bite, she then asked in a lamenting tone, "There. Is everybody happy now?"

Then, Joe asked her, "I take it that you like my tofu dogs, Penny?"

"Tofu?"

"No meat whatsoever and only a fraction of the fat of a normal hot dog. I made the switch and nobody noticed."

"But why, Joe?"

"I'm a vegetarian. Check out my shirt."

On a hanger, Joe showed it to her. It had a cow with a red slash through it, and a caption reading, "Don't have a cow, man!"

Penny giggled, "That's cute."

"In fact, I have my own line of vegetarian entrées. The point is, Penny, I know how hard it is to be a vegetarian."

"That's why I ran away. When will all those fools learn that you can be perfectly healthy simply eating vegetables, fruits, grains and cheese?"

Joe then remarked, "Cheese? Ew."

"You don't eat cheese, Joe?"

"No, I don't eat any food that comes from an animal."

"Oh, then you must think I'm a monster."

"Yes, indeed, I do think that. However, I learned long ago, Penny, to tolerate others rather than forcing my beliefs on them. You know you can influence people without badgering them always. It's like the song, "Live and Let Die". It had a good rhythm."

"I guess I have been pretty hard on a lot of people. Especially my grandpa. Thank you, Joe."

Penny took her leave and started walking home, she saw Dr. Crygor looking everywhere for her, including under manhole covers, calling out, "Penny! Penny! Penny, come back before everyone finds out what a horrible grandfather I am!"

She said to him with a hint of nervousness in her voice, "H-hi, grandpa."

He saw Penny and was relieved, "Oh, thank heavens you're ok. I want to apologize. I don't know exactly what went wrong, but it's always my fault."

"Actually, grandpa, this time, it's me that should be sorry. While I was gone, I got some really good advice from Joe. I still stand by my beliefs, but I can't defend what I did and I can't force you to change who you are. I'm sorry I messed up your barbecue."

"I understand, honey. I used to strongly believe in things when I was your age. Come here, you."

Penny and Dr. Crygor hugged it out for a little bit, then he said, "How about I give you a piggy-back...I mean a veggie-back ride home?"

Dr. Crygor carried his granddaughter on his back, they laughed as they returned home.


	6. Penny's Unicorn

At Diamond Academy after school, Penny called Dr. Crygor, he answered, "Hello?"

She said, "Grandpa, don't forget the school talent show. It's tonight."

"No problem, Penny. You know I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Hours later, the show started and the principal announced, "You're in for a whale of a show tonight. The doors are now locked, so you parents can't sneak out after your own child has performed."

Dr. Crygor was just driving down to see her granddaughter perform, but when he least expected it...BOOM! He was in a terrible car accident, thanks to a lunatic driver. Thankfully, he was unharmed, but now getting to the school would take longer than he thought. The old man desperately ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

The first act involved one student balancing on a chair while twirling a hula hoop around his foot, the judges were uninmpressed, one said, "This is a whole lot of nothing. I'd rather watch the boilers."

Meanwhile, Dr. Crygor was tired and walking while breathing heavily, he was impatiently waiting at an intersection for the walk signal. At school, the second student did a cappella while making sounds with two spoons, another judge said, "Oh, terrible, just terrible. They seem to get worse every year."

While watching the third act, Penny was nervously saying to herself, "Where are you, grandpa?"

The fourth act consisted of a fat man farting the alphabet, making the principal shout before he could finish, "This act is over!"

He dismissed the vulgar performance and said to the audience, "Well, ladies and gentlemen I'd like to put this filth behind us. Penny Crygor, please rescue us from Mr. Fatty's sucky sounds...and smells."

Penny was now on stage, she looked nervous as she scanned the audience for her grandfather, but he was nowhere to be seen. Dr. Crygor had just made it Diamond Academy and he was looking for the auditorium. Not wanting to stall any further, Penny reluctantly began singing with her angelic voice. When her performance was over, it was too late. Despite Penny getting a perfect score, earning lots of applause and winning a trophy, she was disheartened by her granddad's absence.

When Dr. Crygor finally made it, it was very clear that he missed everything. Penny sadly looked away from him, hurt that he didn't get to the show in time.

* * *

The next day, Penny and Dr. Crygor were at a restaurant, the redhead still looked depressed and didn't say a word or even look at her old man. Their server brought two slices of choclate, vanilla and strawberry cheesecake for dessert, asking, "Who ordered the Neapolitan Cheesecake?"

Dr. Crygor said, "I ordered it for my little girl."

Only one bite and then Penny said, "I'm done."

"Already? These dessert cost me 20 coins!"

"I don't feel much like eating."

"Look, I let you down and I apologize, I know that doesn't make it right, but I hope you can find it your heart to forgive me."

She droned, "I forgive you."

"That doesn't sound like you mean it."

"Becuase I don't."

* * *

Back at Dr. Crygor's Lab, he was watching some videos of Penny as a baby. He watched her taking her first steps, he watched her say, "Da-da. Da-da."

While the old man was moping, Mike advised, "If you want to make up with Penny, spend some time with her."

Taking the advice, Dr. Crygor joined a reluctant Penny for a tea party with some of her stuffed animals, she still looked unhappy. Later, he pushed her on the swing in the nearest playground, but after a few pushes, she simply got off and left. That night, Dr. Crygor lamented, "Maybe I should give up on Penny and make a fresh start with Doris 1."

Mike suggested, "Stop looking for the quick fix. If you keep spending time with Penny, she'll forgive you eventually."

"If I spend any more time doing girl things I'm going to, you know, go fruity. No, you were right the first time with that quick fix idea. Let's see- quick fix, quick fix."

After some brainstorming, he hatched an idea, "I know! I'll get her a unicorn. She always wanted one."

The robot pointed out, "Unicorns don't exist. Even if they do, unicorns are expensive to feed, bathe and clean up after."

"If they don't exist, then..."

He had another idea, he went down to his basement, opened a cabinet with strands of hair and fur from various animals, picked out a white pony hair and inserted it into one of his cloning devices. Once the pony was created, he took some modeling clay, made a fake horn and glued it to the pony's head, Dr. Crygor chuckled, "Crygor, you've done it again."

Then, he colored the pony's tail with hair dyes, making it look like a rainbow.

* * *

The next day, Penny heard a knock on her door, she opened it and happily gasped, "A unicorn!"

She hugged it and Dr. Crygor asked her, "What do you think?"

Penny eagerly hugged her grandpa and said, "Thank you! Thank you! All is forgiven!"

Then, Penny looked at the unicorn, "I'm gonna call you Snowball because you are so pretty and white."

Mike was with them and asked Dr. Crygor, "So you went and made a unicorn, huh? Where is Penny gonna keep it?"

His answer was, "We can build a stable."

"That sounds expensive."

"Not if we use our own supplies. Plus, I can teach my granddaughter to ride it."

Before taking the unicorn for a joyride, Penny hugged Dr. Crygor again and said, "You've made me the happiest girl who ever lived."

Back at Dr. Crygor's Lab, Mike did some accounting and warned the inventor, "You should have taken the expenses of raising a pet into account. I think we should get rid of it."

"Absolutely not! Penny loves me, the pony has to stay."

"How can you even afford it?"

"There's plenty of money out there for a guy who's willing to work."

At Joe's Clothes, Dr. Crygor filled out an application and was given a job. Joe explained, "All you need to do is help people when they need it. Also, your schedule is flexible is long as you work at least two hours a day. Starting pay is 25 coins an hour."

Dr. Crygor stayed there all day and night, helping customers while making games for Wario whever he needed to, even wanting to stay after closing time, but Joe said, "Seriously, Dr. Crygor, you worked a lot today, you should probably get some rest."

Tomorrow, Penny was letting some of her classmates pet her unicorn when she saw her grandpa yawning and walking into Joe's Clothes, making her look concerned. Dr. Crygor was asleep at a cash register, making Joe ask, "You ok?"

He sleepily mumbled, "Yes, sir."

"Well, please don't fall asleep at your post. Some shirts need to be restocked."

"Yes, sir."

When his shift of juggling game making for WarioWare and customer service at Joe's Clothes ended, he exited the store and then fell down on the ground to sleep, Mike was looking for him, saw him and asked, "How long do you plan to do this?"

Snoring, Dr. Crygor said, "I don't know."

His phone rang, he answered, "Hello?"

It was Penny on the other line, she said, "Hi, grandpa. It's Penny, I just called to say I love you."

"Thanks. I sleep now."

"Huh?"

Mike carried Dr. Crygor to Penny's Lab, he laid him down on the floor and Penny asked, "What's wrong with grandpa?"

The answered Mike gave was, "He's just exhausted. Penny, do you know what it costs to keep a pony?"

"A lot?"

"Exactly. Your grandfather had to take a second job."

"Oh. Poor guy. Where's he working?"

"Joe's Clothes. I hope you realize that your grandpa can't keep this up."

"Do I need to give up Snowball?"

"No one's making you. That's for you to decide for yourself."

Penny looked at her grandpa and her unicorn, torn between them. Eventually, she made up her mind and the next day, she took her to the nearest farm, she talked to a farmer about giving it up, "She likes a little carrot after her oats and she likes it when you scratch her behind the ear. She also likes contemporary adult radio in the morning and easy listening at night. Please take good care of my Snowball."

After leaving the unicorn, Penny went to see Dr. Crygor, who was falling asleep on the job at Joe's Clothes again, she woke him up and told him, "Grandpa, you don't have to do this."

Dr. Crygor insisted, "Yes, I do. You see, Penny, grown-ups have a thing called money."

"Grandpa, I understand the sacrifice you've made for me. That's why I gave up the pony."

That confession surprised him, "You did?"

"There's a big dumb animal I love more than that pony with a fake horn."

"What is it, a hippopotamus?"

Penny embraced her grandpa and said, "I mean you, you goofy old man."

"Aw, Penny."

No longer required to work two jobs, Dr. Crygor told Joe, "I quit."

Then, he beckoned Penny to hop on his shoulders to ride him like a horse and she laughed, "Giddy up, grandpa!"

As Penny and Dr. Crygor headed home, Joe watched on and said, "There goes the best dang employee a clothing store ever had."


	7. Valentine's Day

Today was Valentine's Day, Penny and Dr. Crygor were spreading hearts all over Diamond City, giving some to all of their friends.

While Penny was still spreading joy, her grandpa was discussing a top secret plan with Mona in his lab. He had some blueprints of a carnival and discussed, "You know what to do, right?"

Mona assured him, "Sure do. At the carnival entrance, when Penny least expects it. I'll deliver your huge gift."

Dr. Crygor removed a tarp, revealing a pink statue of Penny, made out of bubble gum. Mona was impressed and said, "She will love this. I'll rent a flat bed truck and bring the statue to her."

Meanwhile at Penny's Lab, Dr. Crygor came over and his granddaughter gave him a box of chocolates, saying, "Happy Valentine's Day, grandpa!"

"Thank you, Penny. I have big a present for you, but be patient. It's not ready yet."

Penny whined, "Come on, grandpa."

"Do you want to ruin the surprise?"

"Yes."

"Well, you're not supposed to. Come on, let's have some fun at the carnival while you wait."

At the Valentine's Day Carnival, Penny and Dr. Crygor were guzzling down a lot of sweets from chocolates to cotton candy. While Penn was eating a heart shaped funnel cake, Dr. Crygor checked in on Mona, he called her without Penny knowing, asking, "How's that present coming, Mona?"

Mona closing in with the gum statue on the carnival and answered, "I got a visual on the carnival. You want me to bring her in?"

"Of course I do."

"Excellent. I'll...uh oh."

"Uh oh? What's going on?"

Mona looks ahead and sees a lot of cars in a huge accident at major intersection, she explained, "Car crashes. Now I'm stuck in a huge traffic jam."

"Oh no! Please tell me there's a way you get past it."

"Sadly, no. I'm stuck."

"This can't be happening, what do I do now?"

"You'll just have to stall Penny."

"Aaahh!"

He hung up and freaked out to himself, "If Penny doesn't get her valentine...she'll be heartbroken!"

Penny then startled her granddad, "I'm ready for the greatest Valentine's present in the whole world now, grandpa."

Meanwhile, Mona wasn't going anywhere and hit her head against the steering wheel, honking the horn and groaning, "Where's Orbulon when you need him?"

Dr. Crygor sweated a little and said, "Now, Penny, the gift is extra special, so just be patient and wait until tonight, ok?"

The redhead looked a little worried, but understood and sighed, "Ok."

While the two of them laughed and throughout their playtime in the carnival, Penny was looking a little less happy and a little more scared as the hours went by on the roller coaster, ferris wheel and bounce house.

At sunset, Penny and Dr. Crygor were waiting for Mona, who still could not make it. He called Mona asked under his breath, "Where are you?!"

Mona sighed, "Still stuck in the same spot."

The old man became exasperated as he hung up, hours passed with no gift. At night, the park had to close and everyone had to leave, Dr. Crygor looked at her sad granddaughter and explained, "Uh, Penny. You know how sometimes you plan something special and things don't just work out?"

Penny had lost all patience at that point and griped, "So I get nothing from you? I got a gift from everyone but you, don't you love me?"

Dr. Crygor laughed nervously, "Penny, of course I love, it's just...that...sometimes planning special gifts goes...awry and...can't be fixed?"

That must have come out very wrong, Penny's eyes filled with tears and her lips trembled as she cried, "So you give gifts to everyone but me? How could you?"

She ran off crying and her grandpa desperately followed her, pleading, "Penny, please! It's not like that! Come back!"

The redhead ran through town with a broken heart as her grandpa tried to keep up. In the middle of a small park that was lit up very brightly, Penny tripped and continued to cry. Mona was asleep in the truck as she heard Penny crying, it caught Mona's attention and woke her up. She got out of the truck and asked, "Penny, what's wrong?"

Penny sobbed, "Grandpa broke my heart. He didn't get me anything!"

"Oh...about that. It's mostly my fault, not his. What he wanted to give you is right her-"

The old man finally caught up with Penny and said, "Mona, there you are! You took too long and had me worried sick!"

Mona then said to Penny, "Come with us. Your Valentine's gift is right there."

Dr. Crygor and Moan lifted the Penny statue off the truck and they said, "Ta da! It's here! It's here! The best Valentine in the whole wide world is right in front of you!"

Penny saw the statue of her, she stopped crying and started to look happy as she gasped, "Grandpa? Is this for me?"

He replied, "It sure is. Happy Valentine's Day, Penny!"

She giddily jumped up and down in joy and hugged her grandpa, "Thank you, grandpa! This is the best Valentine's Day gift ever!"

Returning the embrace, Dr. Crygor said, "You're welcome, Penny."

Then, Penny ran to the statue and shouted, "Yay! My valentine! Hey, is this bubble gum?"

Penny bit a big chunk of the statue, she was filling her mouth of bubble gum until there was no more room in her mouth. Soon, she hiccuped a pink bubble and it only got bigger with every hiccup. Eventually, it got big enough to cast a huge shadow over Mona, Penny and Dr. Crygor. When the bubble couldn't inflate any more, it burst and pink sticky gum exploded everywhere, creating a very sticky mess.

Finally, Penny said to Dr. Crygor as she embraced him and Mona, "Aw, grandpa. A box of chocolates would have be good enough."


	8. Limousine For A Day

Dr. Crygor and Mike noticed a limousine in Penny's Lab, he saw her wearing that same pink dress she wore from the dance off and the tiara she won from aforementioned competition. She even had high heels, Penny explained, "I won another competiton. The 'Win a Limo for a Day' contest."

He was intrigued and asked, "How?"

"Easy, send a picture of yourself wearing the most beautiful dress to some fancy website. Mine won."

The chauffeur opened up the door, introducing himself, "Good day, ma'am. I am Winston, your personal chauffeur for the day."

Penny hopped in, her grandpa and his robot rushed Winston to join the fun. Inside, they enjoyed the accommodations the limo had to offer, including, but not limited to a disco ball, a minitaure refrigerator filled with sparkling lemonades and limeades of assorted flavors, a TV screen that could be folded into the roof, a sunroof, seat warmers and a few pizzas. Dr. Crygor was amazed, "This is so awesome, Penny! Where should we first? The mall? The clothing store? The arcade? The dance club? The campgrounds?"

Mike calmed him down, "Chill out, Dr. Crygor. I know you're excited about Penny's limo, but let's let her enjoy it for a while first. Plus, she needs to go school, then she'll come back and take us for a ride. Right, Penny?"

She said, "Right. How about I pick you guys up at 5:00 PM and we can all go down to Gigantaburger?"

Dr. Crygor liked that idea, "See you then."

He and Mike rushed out while Winston shielded himself with the passenger door. He got in the limo and drove off, saying, "Your premium transportation experience begins now, ma'am."

The redhead asked, "What's all this 'ma'am' stuff? Call me Penny."

Winston took off his driver's cap and sighed, "Phew! Well, that's a load off. I'm used to driving around snobby men and women, so where to? Anywhere you want."

"Diamond Academy, please."

After her arrival, Penny noticed all the students of Diamond Academy looking at her like a celebrity. She looked like a princess with dress and tiara and she even walked like one. Penny giggled and blushed from all the attention she was getting, even asking to be called Princess Penny, her classmates even held doors for her for every period, she got a free lunch, was exempted from taking any exams that day and was allowed to skip physical education. Her teachers even let her leave early.

Once school was over, Penny got back in her limo and had the chauffeur drive to a gas station convenince store where Joe worked, Joe looked at the limo and gasped, "There must be an important customer inside!"

Joe brought a tofu dog to the limo and knocked on the window as Penny rolled it down, saying, "Please enjoy a complimentary tofu dog."

Penny was pleasantly surprised, "Wow, Joe. You've never given me anything free before."

"Well, you never had a limo before."

The other patrons of the mini-mart and even the local news come by to check the limo. At that moment, another limo blared its horn and pulled up. The rider rolled down his window and was revealed to be a wealthy middle aged woman in a purple dress, who said to Penny, "Say there, I like your limo. How did you obtain it?"

She explained, "Wearing a pink dress."

"What's your name?"

"Penny Crygor."

"Interesting name. Call me Lady Evelyn, I was just heading to my exclusive country club. Care to join me?"

Penny had a jolt of joy and said, "I would love to."

Evelyn's limo drove off, Penny said, "Winston, follow that limo!"

They arrived at the country club where Evelyn's butlers have arranged a staircase for her as he exits his limo and Penny hopped out of hers, then they marched up to the door where Penny was astonished by what she saw inside, swimming pools, golf courses, tennis courts, badminton courts, pool tables and a five star restaurant, Evelyn said, "Welcome to my Country Club."

She snapped her fingers and her butlers slipped her and Penny into exclusive robes, Penny was delighted, "Ooh, comfy."

Evelyn grinned, "Of course. Now, shall we dine, Miss Penny?"

"Sounds good to me, Miss Evelyn?"

The two of them had a nice meal together in the dining room, their server asked, "Is there anything else I can get you, ma'am?"

Penny giggled, "Oh, you don't need to call me 'ma'am.' You can call me Penny."

The server gasped, fainted and was dragged out of the room by several other servers, Evelyn gave her some advice, "See now, Ms. Crygor. Men and women in limos don't act all chummy with the help. It only confuses them."

Penny nodded in reason and the two of them burst open the door with their dresses, high heels and tiaras, Evelyn then suggested, "Now, let's hit the town as limo people do."

They hopped in their limos and the limos drive off, coming towards the afternoon rush where a police officer was conducting traffic, he blew his whistle and held up stop signs, then he noticed, "Limos! Limos coming through!"

The limos passed while the other cars endured fender benders. Penny and Evelyn hit a golf course, she swung her club and her ball landed in a water hazard. Evelyn ordered one of her servants to fetch the ball out of it, which he did.

Next, they had a round of limo croquet. As their drivers hit balls with mallets, Penny popped her head out with the wind blowing in her face, she kept her glasses in place as she said, "Wow. I never knew life could be like this."

Evelyn said, "I say, it's a quarter to five, Crygor. Shall we check on the markets before they close?"

"That's okay. My grandpa usually does the shopping."

All of a sudden, Penny's eyes quickly widened in realization, "Wait! A quarter to five? I'm supposed to pick up my grandpa and take him to Gigantaburger!"

"Gigantaburger?"

"Yes, you know. Their Megaburgers are the best in Diamond City."

"Look here, Penny. You're a woman in a limo. You can't be seen in some rat hole named after an unhealthy food item. It's just not done."

"But my grandpa-"

"We all have embarrassing relations. I have a second cousin who takes the bus to work. Can you imagine? The point is we can't let them hold us back. Now, come on, princess!"

They stopped at the beach and Elelyn got out a parachute, "It's time for parasailing! I have a few yachts."

Evelyn had a purple bikini on and sailed upward on a parachute tethered to a yacht, shouting, "Woo hoo! This view is incredible! Oh, look! Dolphins! I THINK I'LL RIDE ONE!"

Penny hesitated to follow Evelyn's actions, but immediately caved in and said, "Wait for me!"

She changed into a pink bikini and sailed upward on another yacht, having a good time.

Meanwhile, Dr. Crygor was waiting for Penny to come and pick them up and take them to Gigantaburger. He was getting worried that it was not gonna happen. After changing back into their fancy clothes, Evelyn gave Penny a little something, "I've got a little surprise for you."

Evelyn handed her an invitation that read, "You're invited! Please RSVP. No riffraff allowed! We're holding a gala at the club tonight to welcome our newest member: you!"

Penny was amazed, "Wow! Thanks!"

"Don't mention it. I think you'll fit in splendidly. Just keep wearing what you are now, your pink dress, tiara and high heels."

The limo arrived back at Penny's Lab and Penny crept inside, only to be caught by her grandpa, who was displeased with her negligence. She thought, "Sorry! Wrong house!"

Penny closed the door. However, Dr. Crygor was somehow already outside right in front of her and asked, "Where have you been!? Mike, Doris and I were standing on the curb for over three hours!"

Mike added, "The garbage guys literally tried to take Doris 1 to the dump!"

The redhead stammered, "I'm really sorry. I had a busy day with the very wealthy Lady Evelyn and I just couldn't get away."

That made Dr. Crygor upset, "I cannot believe you have been hanging out with some random rich woman all day instead of taking your own grandpa to Gigantaburger! Should I be mad or sad?!"

Then, Penny echoing Evelyn's words, "Men and women in limos can't be seen in some rat hole named after an unhealthy food item. It's just not done."

"You're not a woman in a limo! You're a bad kid who sent a picture of a dress! As soon as your limo's gone, this little fantasy of yours is going to be over, young lady!"

Smugly, Penny scoffed, "Oh, really? Is that why they're making me a member of their club tonight? Humph. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be on my way."

"You'll see, Penny! You're no better than the rest of us!"

Later, Penny was back in her limo, saying, "No better than the rest of us? How dare he! I'm the important person and I've got important places to be! Speaking of which, why aren't we moving?"

Winston explained, "Because we are in a traffic jam."

"This is unacceptable! Can't you drive around this?!"

"There's nothing I can do. Sorry, Penny."

"Don't call me Penny. It's Ma'am! Evelyn was right. If you get too chummy with the help, it just confuses them. Let's keep this straight, Winston. I'm the woman in the limo. You're the man driving the limo."

Winston put his driver's cap back on and the timer went off, making Penny moan, "What's all this beeping?"

Smirking, Winston answered, "It's the timer. Your day is up, kid. You're no longer a woman in a limo."

"What?!"

Her former chauffeur kicked her out and drove off. She said, "Well, the joke's on you..."

Holding up a pizza slice, she finished, "...because I took some of your pizza!"

It was getting late and Penny was now lost downtown while eating some of the pizza she took, asking herself, "Where am I?"

Then, she heard some rabid dogs snarling at her and stayed calm, "Nice puppies. You like pizza?"

The dogs snarled again and Penny runs away screaming as the dogs gave chase. Penny escaped by climbing a chain link fence, but not before one of the dogs bit her dress and tore off a small portion of it. A truck drove by and splattered mud on Penny, who growled before the dogs chased Penny again.

Eventually, Penny lost the dogs and finally made it to the club for the gala and knocked on the door, saying, "Hello? Evelyn? It's me, Penny! I'm here for my gala!"

Evelyn slid a door window open to get a look at Penny's state, "I say, Penny! What happened to you? What happened to your limo?"

"I...don't have it anymore."

"Without a limo, you cannot possibly join the club! It just isn't done!"

"But I thought I fit in splendidly."

"You did...when you had a limo! Now if you'll excuse me, I have about 1000 Penny balloons to pop."

Evelyn closed the door window, Penny sadly walked away. Then, Dribble and Spitz noticed her and Dribble asked, "Penny? You don't look so good. What happened?"

Penny sighed, "My limo is gone."

"You had a limo?! What happened to it?"

"My time having it expired."

Spitz mentioned, "Your grandpa told us you let the fame go to your head, is that true?"

"Yes, I started to think that I was better than everybody and acted like a real brat, but the truth is...I'm just a kid who sent a pic of myself in a fancy dress that's now ruined."

She stepped on a Megaburger wrapper, then Penny asked, "Can I get a ride?"

Dribble said, "Sure."

The next day, at Dr. Crygor's Lab, the limo's horn sounded. Dr. Crygor, Mike and Doris 1 looked out the window, the old man said, "I thought she only had it for a day! We gotta put up with more of her attitude?"

Penny stepped out, now back to wearing her black body suit, white lab coat and pink boots. Facing her grandpa, she said, "The limo's not for me. It's for you, grandpa."

Her grandfather was surprised as Penny apologized, "I'm sorry about the way I acted yesterday. I never should have broken my promise to take you guys to Gigantaburger, so I called Winston and apologized. He's agreed to let us have the limo for one more day. Now, I know you're probably so mad at me that you don't even want-"

Mike and Doris 1 cheerfully rushed into the limo, Dr. Crygor held his granddaughter in his arms and said, "Apology accepted, Penny."

Happy to be forgiven, Penny hugged him back.

The limo went to Gigantaburger and took the drive-thru, Danny said from the audio box, "Welcome to Gigantaburger. What can I get ya?"

Mike said, "Four Megaburgers and fries."

Penny added, "Don't forget one for Winston."

Winston responded with, "Thank you, ma'am. I mean, Penny."

While eating, Penny said, "The only thing better than being a woman in a limo is being a family in a limo."

Everyone was enjoying their burgers when Evelyn's limo drove up to Penny's, Evelyn said, "I say, Penny, it's good to see you back in a limo. What say you ditch the riffraff and come back to the club?"

Her invitation surprised Penny as she darted her eyes at her grandpa, who was afraid she would leave again. She then looked at Mike and whispered something his ear, Mike grinned at her whispering, nodded and poked his head out of the window, yelling at Evelyn while angrily pointing, "No! Leave her alone!"

Mike shot lasers out of his eyes at pointed them at Evelyn's limo, cutting it in half. The vandalism shocked Evelyn as everyone laughed at her misfortune before driving away, Penny and Dr. Crygor especially laughed hysterically.


	9. Magic Mushrooms

One day, Penny went to the Agate Forest to look for mushrooms, she returned to her lab with a handful of ones with red, blue, yellow and green polkadots all over. She sautéed them and invited Dr. Crygor over for dinner to try them, he was pleased with how well she cooked them, "You made all this?"

Penny giggled, "I can't take all the credit. They were your idea."

"Believe me, the multicolored fungus not only looks colorful, but it tastes extravagant too. I actually had some raw earlier because I just couldn't wait to eat them."

Mike stated a concern, "I still you two should stop getting your hands on these. Seriously, Penny. It's bad enough a bear almost killed your grandpa, what if another one comes?"

She assured him, "Mike, Mike, Mike, chances of that happening are slim. After that last bear died, there hasn't been a single bear attack in Diamond City since."

"Also, accoring to my scans, there are some side effects from ingesting..."

However, Penny interrupted him, "Hold that thought, I have to powder my nose."

Dr. Crygor began eating, Mike said, "Uh oh."

When Penny exited the bathroom, she saw her grandpa flailing and running while laughing manically, making her ask, "Grandpa? What's wrong?"

The robot blurted out, "I told you these mushrooms were bad news! They are laced with psilocybin!"

"Psilocybin? You mean..."

"Yes, those were a type of magic mushrooms and your grandfather is now high on drugs."

Then, Dr. Crygor exited Penny's Lab and ran into town, acting like a raving lunatic, talking about nonsense, having nervous breakdowns and behaving likes various types of animals. His hallucinations scared many people in town and soon got then attention of doctors and nurses, who pinned him down and said, "Nighty night, crazy guy."

The old man screamed after getting pricked with a syringe full of a sedative drug, making him fall asleep. As they put him in an ambulance, Penny caught up to him and desperately tried to stop everyone from taking him away, "Wait! Let him go!"

However, one nurse said to Penny, "Forget it, kid. This man is a raving lunatic, he's clearly too old and his sanity has decayed too much."

"That's not true, he's just a little drugged!"

"A little drugged? He scared ten children while screaming, flailing his arms, barking like a dog and thrashing around on all fours like a bull."

"Uh...uh...I...I..."

Nobody would listen any further, Penny sadly watched as her old man was driven away, most likely to the nearest insane asylum.

* * *

The next day, Penny looked at the newspaper, the headline read, "Dr. Crygor committed. Crackpot inventor declared legally insane."

She felt so scared and alone, "Poor grandpa. The thought of him alone and afraid in wherever he is now makes me think about him being alone and afraid in jail or a mental hospital. I don't know how he's going to survive. That poor man, it's all my fault."

Looking at the newspaper, Dr. Crygor was being held in the Diamond City Insane Asylum, she tracked the location with her phone and it took an hour to walk there with Mike coming along. Once there, Penny pleaded with the staff to let him out, but they simply said, "No. We can't have him freaking out again."

Mike stated, "That was because he accidentally ingested some magic mushrooms. Surely, the effects must have worn off last night."

Penny begged, "Please, either set him free or put me in his cell. He's the only family I have."

A doctor simply remarked, "You're perfectly sane, so no need for you to go in there. The nearest orphanage is on the other side of town."

That response hurt Penny's feelings, Mike offered to her, "I can take care of you."

The same doctor scoffed, "Robots can't raise children."

Mike snapped at him, "Now you're starting to come across as bigoted and insensitive!"

Then, a nurse asked Mike, "Did you say magic mushrooms?"

"Yes."

"Where did you find them?"

Penny answered, "Agate Forest."

"What does he look like?"

She gave the woman a picture of her granddad, then the nurse offered, "Well, he hasn't said or done anything crazy today, but we need proof just to be safe. Why don't you get us some of those mushrooms? If what you say is true, then that means you're right about the mushrooms causing his strange behavior and we'll let your grandfather go."

"Follow me."

* * *

In the Agate Forest, Penny found the magic mushrooms sticking out of the grass, she showed them to the nurse and after they got back, the nurse tested it out on one of the doctors. In ten minutes, the afflicted doctor began acting strange, "Dude, I can see sounds and hear colors."

Soon, he began to run around in a weird fashion, like he was seeing and hearing things no else could see or hear. He said, "There's a giant red fly on your head!"

The nurse gasped, "Good heavens! The child was right!"

Penny said, "Told you. Can you let him out now?"

"Wait here."

Minutes later, Dr. Crygor was released and Penny eagerly hugged him and said, "I'm so sorry, grandpa! I didn't mean for this to happen to you!"

Dr. Crygor hugged her back and consoled her, "It's not your fault."

Mike said, "You're right. It's your fault."

That offended Dr. Crygor, who angrily walked towards the robot and asked, "MY fault?!"

"Think about it, you didn't care that a bear could smell it from a mile away, you didn't care about the mushroom's hallucinatory effects. You almost died and then you ended up in the looney bin as a consequence."

He slowly realized that Mike was right after being reminded of the colorful mushroom's dangerous properties and said, "Oh god, you're right. It is all my fault, I thought it was aesthetically pleasing because of how colorful it was with red, blue, yellow and green spots on it."

Penny said, "I guess these mushrooms are more trouble than they're worth."

Her grandpa said, "It IS all my fault."

As they all left, Dr. Crygor said, "All in favor of swearing off any type fungi for good, say aye."

Everyone said, "Aye."

After they left, Penny and Dr. Crygor heard screaming as a roar was heard. A bear had broke into the hospital, scaring the employees as it trashed the place. Mike spoke with sarcasm, "No more bear attacks, right."

The three of them fled.


	10. Puny Penny

Penny was inside what looked like a person's stomach as a dozen giant creatures resembling moldy chocolate bar pieces with arms and legs menacingly approaching her. Before she had to defend herself, she stopped the scene and broke the fourth wall by narrating, "Hi, I'm Penny and I bet you are wondering what led to me coming face to face with some rotten pieces of candy. Let's go back to the beginning."

* * *

Hours earlier, Dr. Crygor dropped an unwrapped chocolate bar recently purchased from a candy store, before he could pick up, it was stepped on by a few people and it was well past the five second rule. He wanted to eat it anyway, but Penny didn't think it was good idea, "Grandpa, please don't. That's filthy. You'll get sick."

Dr. Crygor responded, "I paid good money for this thing, I can't let it go to waste. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"But-"

"Now, Penny, don't talk back to your grandpa."

"..."

He ate it one bite.

* * *

Minutes later, Dr. Crygor was sick food poisoning and lying down on an operating table in his lab, he groaned in pain, "Penny? Do you see a flying saucer capable of shrinking and growing?"

She opened two large doors and saw it, "Yes."

"You know how to drive?"

"Sure. I play a lot of Mario Kart, should be easy to pilot one of the these things."

"Hurry. Get rid of these viruses before it's too late."

Penny climbed in the saucer and shrunk, then flew into his mouth.

Meanwhile, Mike looked at a monitor so he could keep in contact with Penny as the robot then said to Dr. Crygor, "Do not move around too much. You could knock her into something important."

Dr. Crygor swallowed nervously and nodded. Mike then pressed a button to turn on the speaker, "Penny, can you hear me?"

She answered, "Loud and clear."

The submarine enters Dr. Crygor's stomach and landed somewhere safe, she looked at the stomach acid. The robot then asked, "Where are you now?"

Outside, Dr. Crygor's stomach rumbled. Inside, food was being dissolved by the green acid. Penny noted, "The stomach acid levels are way too high!"

Then, she looked at a dozen viruses that looked like giant creatures resembling moldy chocolate bar pieces with arms and legs, punching and clawing at Dr. Crygor's insides and causing the pain. They saw Penny, who was still inside the saucer and growled evilly as they approached her, she swallowed nervously and said, "Here's where all of you came in."

Mike's voice was heard inside the saucer, "Penny, what's going on?"

"The viruses. How do I stop them?"

Her granddad answered weakly, "Check in the saucer. There should be several gadgets."

She opened an oversized glove compartment and found a freeze ray, flamethrower, bottle of painkillers and some hand sanitizer. The viruses started rocking the ship, forcing Penny to take action. Penny grabbed the freeze ray and flamethrower before kicking the door open and taunting, "Come and get me!"

As Penny safely hopped from one piece of partically digested food to another, the viruses chased her. Then, Penny managed to freeze some of them and burn a few more, making them fall into the acid and die. One remained and seemed to be good at dodging. Penny quickly got back to the saucer, grabbed the hand sanitizer and threw it in the virus's mouth, making it melt.

Once the viruses were destroyed, Penny took out some painkiller pills and threw them in the acid. Dr. Crygor soon felt better and said, "Mission accomplished, Penny. My stomach doesn't hurt anymore."

Penny said, "Now to get out of...uh oh."

"What's wrong?"

"The reserve tanks are almost empty."

"How do you get out of there?"

She thought for a while, then she hatched an idea, "I need an alternative fuel, like natural gas. If you can make a big enough burp, I can filter the CO2 through the ballast tanks, refire the engines and ride out of your body."

Mike got Dr. Crygor a two liter bottle of orange soda, he chugged it less than ten seconds, then Mike commanded, "Now burp!"

His stomach rumbled loudly, then Dr. Crygor burped even louder. A bubble formed below and engulfed the saucer. The reserve gas levels rose to maximum. Penny cheered, "It's working!"

The saucer started up and popped through the bubble and went out of the stomach. Finally, it exited his mouth and then grew back to normal size along with Penny. She got out of the ship, returning to a hero's welcome. Dr. Crygor eagerly got up to hug her, but she folded her arms and gave him a glare, confusing him, "What?"

Penny asked sternly, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Her grandpa sighed, "Ok. You were right, I was wrong. I shouldn't have eaten that really dirty chocolate bar."

"And?"

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Then, Penny wrapped her arms around his shoulders, whispering, "It's ok. I forgive you and I love you."

Dr. Crygor wrapped his arms around her waist, saying, "I love you too."

Suddenly, he noticed a hot dog on the floor, Dr. Crygor rushed over to it, making Penny scream in slow motion, "NOOOOOOO!"

Mike facepalmed, "Here we go again."


	11. Dr Crygor the Packrat

Mike scared Dr. Crygor by popping out of a door, "Prevail the closet. It will eat you alive!"

In response, Dr. Crygor tried to slap Mike, but hurt his hand when it smacked Mike's face, he warned the robot, "You do that again and I'm disassembling you!"

Penny asked her grandpa, "What did Mike mean about your closet?"

"Mike just thinks I save too much stuff. He says I'm a packrat."

He opened the closet doors, revealing a huge pile of junk that spilled out of the closet on all over their feet, making Penny gasp. Dr. Crygor explained while opening boxes, "You'd be amazed at how much stuff I have. Here's a box of old parking violation tickets, mismatched socks, broken light bulbs and obsolete computers."

Then, Penny sounded scared when she opened another box, "Oh my god! What are these?!"

"Snail shells. When a snail dies and the shell remains, I keep them."

"Why?"

"I don't know, I just do."

Rummaging through more stuff, Dr. Crygor opened yet another box and said, "Um. I forget what's in this...Oh, ticket stuff! Here's one from Disney on Ice when you were five."

Then, more stuff came raining down on Dr. Crygor, he screamed as he was partiall buried, Penny pulled him out of the pile of fallen items, asking, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, happens all the time. Hey, an hourglass! I've always been fascinated by how sand drips from the top to the bottom."

While looking at the hourglass, Penny and Mike awkwardly let themselves out of his lab just before another box fell onto Dr. Crygor's head.

* * *

Meanwhile, Penny was back in her lab, nervously contemplating the potential consequences of her granddad's hoarding, "He saves everything. Grandpa spent the whole time going through boxes. The lab is full of health violations, his lab could be condemned, he would have to move out."

Mike told her, "We have to do something."

"What can we do?"

"Make him throw away his junk."

* * *

Back at Dr. Crygor's lab, Penny and Mike were trying to throw away some stuff, but the old man wouldn't allow, "No! It's my stuff! You can't make me throw it away!"

Penny tried reasoning with him, "You have to get rid of all that junk!"

"Well, it's not junk to me. Everything inside this closet has deep personal meaning to me."

Mike moved him out of the way, saying, "Oh, is that so?"

Entering the closet, Mike held up a broken clock, "How about this clock that doesn't work anymore?"

"It's the first one I ever bought."

"The minute hand is gone."

"Well, I really like its design. It could be part of a time capsule some day."

Penny went into the closet and held up a plastic two liter bottle of cola, "What about this old cola bottle? Is this part of a time capsule too?"

Finally, Dr. Crygor said hesitantly, "Okay.. I guess I could get rid of one or two things."

She smiled and said, "That's better. We should put everything into piles first. One can be a 'keep' pile and the other can be a 'get rid of' pile. I'll even help you start."

However, when Penny pulled on the bottle that her grandpa is still holding, he would not let go, she said, "Grandpa, you need to let go."

Dr. Crygor sighed and tossed the bottle onto the ground. Mike said, "There, that's the 'get rid of' pile."

A few hours passed and the two piles got larger, Dr. Crygor and Mike started fighting over an umbrella, Mike eventually got it and threw it into a pile. When Dr. Crygor pointing at the inside of the closet, he said, "The closet! I completely forgot what it looked like inside."

Mike told him, "You can stare at the closet later. We've got to get to the collection center before it closes."

"I'll take it, you both have done enough."

Penny asked, "How will you manage all that by yourself?"

"Just help me load it into the wagons outside."

They all leaned down to pick up a box. Dr. Crygor said, "You know, I actually feel better to having less stuff. Thanks, Penny."

She grinned, "No problem, thank Mike too."

All of them walked towards the door, carrying boxes. Minutes later, they all walked to where people accepted donations, pulling two wagons full of stuff. While Mike and Penny headed home, Dr. Crygor was mesmerized by a nearby gift shop, he stopped inside and said, "Ooh, wonder if there's anything good."

He was about to walk in, but told himself, "No, I must resist!"

Sadly, he did not, he looked at lots of knick knacks, like lava lamps and whoopee cushions. Soon, Dr. Crygor was pulling two once-again-full wagons back to his lab, trying to stuff his stuff in the closet without anyone knowing.

Later, Penny went to check on her grandfather and heard boxes falling from outside, she gasped and opened the door. Dr. Crygor said, "I'm fine, happens all the time."

Mike facepalmed, "He never threw anything out."

"I did, but then I got a few things at the gift shop."

The crackpot inventor got off of his stuff and started rummaging again. Disappointed, Penny groaned, "I can't imagine what it's going to be like in a year from now."

Equally disappointed, but not surprised, Mike said, "I can. The closet might burst and the stuff could explode the lab, leaving us homeless. Maybe rats, mice and other pests will invade our home and never leave, make us sick and eventually kill us. If the rodents don't drive you out, the health department will."

Those details made Dr. Crygor realize, "Who am I kidding? You two are right, I can't go on like this."

He looked at his hoard and said, "Okay stuff, prepare to get organized!"

* * *

Minutes later, Dr. Crygor, Penny and Mike set a garage sale to get rid all of his newly purchased crap. Everything was neatly laid out on the ground and Dr. Crygor told everyone who came, "I would like to let everyone know that everything here is free. I have one request, though. Don't hold on to anything you take for too long, give it to someone else when you're done. We all just share it! Thanks."

Everyone cheered and rapidly took whatever they wanted. Penny was happy for her old man, "Now that's what I call recycling!"

She smiled at the empty closet and said, "An empty closet. That's just what I wanted to see at this time."


	12. April Fools

Penny was sleepling soundly until her grandpa woke her up, having made breakfast for her, "Wake up, Penny!"

Awake and out of bed, Penny asked, "What?"

"We're moving today!"

"Moving?"

"That's right! We're leaving home and going to become homeless!"

Dr. Crygor put on a messy wig and tattered clothes, Penny was about to have breakfast, but he took her food away and said, "No more food. Sorry, Penny. Homeless people don't eat."

"But..."

"Nope. We're all gonna go hungry and eventually die."

Tears streamed Penny's cheeks, her lips trembled and then Penny cried, she sobbed for ten seconds before Dr. Crygor took off the homeless clothing articles, revealing his normal clothes underneath and saying, "April Fools!"

He gave Penny her food back, but she was in no mood to eat anymore, she slapped her grandfather, who said, "Ow!"

* * *

Hours later, Dr. Crygor was using the bathroom, he noticed the toilet was clogged and screamed, "EW!"

Penny surprised him by saying, "April Fools!"

"That's not very funny."

"Neither was your homeless joke."

"Ok, we'll both tone down the pranking."

"Agreed."

"Can I use your bathroom?"

* * *

Just after school was over, Penny was called into the principal's office. Principal Henry told her, "There's someone here to see you, Penny. She says she's from Diamond City Record and she wants to honor you as singer of the month."

"Really? Where is she?"

Suddenly, Dr. Crygor scared her from behind by shouting, "Boo!"

Penny yelped, turned around and almost fell down, Henry said, "She's not here. Your grandpa devised this prank. April Fools."

She looked at her granddad and asked, "What happened to toning down the pranking?"

Dr. Crygor said, "I lied."

"Well, if you're not gonna keep your word, I'm not gonna keep mine."

* * *

Later, Penny arrived at Dr. Crygor's lab and gave him a present, but when he opened it, a boxing glove attached to a spring popped out and punched him in the face, knocking him out cold. She said, "April Fools!"

However, Dr. Crygor seemed limp lying on the ground with a bloody nose, he didn't move a muscle, Penny was getting worried, "Grandpa?"

No response, Penny was scared that she may have seriously injured him, "Grandpa? Wake up, please!"

Terrified, Penny called 911 to help her, when the paramedics arrived, one asked her, "What happened?"

Penny explained, "I only gave him a present with a fist inside."

That confession incensed Dr. Crygor, who instantly woke and angrily yelled, "You what?! I can't believe this! I have been betrayed! My own child! I look like a fool!"

He began chasing Penny, intending to spank her, shouting, "COME HERE! I NEED TO SPANK YOU!"

A paramedic tried to calm him down, but he screamed, "LEAVE ME ALONE! GET OFF MY LAWN!"

Sighing, another paramedic shot him in the back with a tranquilizer dart, making him fall asleep.

* * *

When Dr. Crygor woke up, he just sat down on a couch and brooded with his nose still bleeding, even though Penny said, "I admit I got carried away. Why don't call it even and forget this whole mess?"

However, Dr. Crygor wouldn't talk. He just sat and remained slient. Penny was worried that her grandpa was too disappointed to speak to her ever again, she was scared as she tried to talk to him, "Grandpa? Grandpa? Please don't be mad."

Mike had an idea, he suggested, "Maybe taking a few more pranks for him will cheer him up."

"Like what?"

Mike took out a banana cream pie and Penny had him throw at her face, he said, "April Fools."

That actually made Dr. Crygor chuckle a little, Penny smiled, "It's working."

Then, Mike filled a bucket with water, placed over an slightly open door and had Penny open the door completely to get wet, Mike once again said, "April Fools."

Dr. Crygor's chuckling turned into laughing, Penny said, "What else is there to make him laugh?"

The robot then took out a whoopee cushion, placed it on a chair and instructed Penny to sit on it. When Penny sat on the whoopee cushion, she made a farting noise and blushed wildly in embarrassment as Mike said a third time, "April Fools."

Finally, Dr. Crygor was rolling the floor and laughing hysterically, "Stop! Please! It's too much!"

Penny and Dr. Crygor gave each other banana cream pies to throw them at each other. They both laughed like crazy and hugged it out, she asked, "Truce?"

Her grandfather happily replied, "Truce."

"I won't take pranking too far anymore."

"And I'll never start another prank war."

"Let's vow to never prank each other again."

"Couldn't agree more."

"Water under the bridge?"

"Yes."

Dr. Crygor then looked at Mike and said, "Someone's got some cleaning up to do."

Mike sighed in exasperation and started cleaning up the mess.


	13. The Crygor Family Circus

One day, Penny was visited by her grandpa. Dr. Crygor had some big news, "Guess what coming to town?"

"What?"

He showed her a poster, saying, "The circus is coming to Diamond City!"

Penny was excited, "EEEE! The greatest show on Earth! We have to go see it!"

"You bet we do! I even got tickets! Now let's get some sleep so we can get up early!"

* * *

Penny woke up bright and early the next morning. She got all dressed and went to see if Dr. Crygor was ready, knocking on his front door, "Grandpa, it's circus time! We'd better leave early so we don't have to wait in a long line. Elephants, jugglers, clowns, we have to go now!"

However, Dr. Crygor did not answer, Penny knocked and called again, "Grandpa? Hurry, we'll be late."

Mike answered and said, "Penny, there is something you should know."

"What's that?"

Penny saw Dr. Crygor lying in bed with a thermometer in his mouth and an ice pack on his head, she was confused and asked, "Grandpa, what are you doing in bed? We don't wanna be late for the circus."

Dr. Crygor sadly shook his head and coughed, "I can't go, Penny. I am very ill today."

"Oh no. Don't worry, I can help you. Let me get you some cold pills."

She went to the medicine cabinet and got some Tylenol, giving him the pills to swallow. He didn't seem to be getting better, so she tried singing. Alas, her voice could not do the trick either. Next, she resorted to hypnosis, she swung a watch like a pendulum, "Look deep into my eyes and listen to my soothing voice. You are not sick, grandpa. You will go to the circus with your granddaughter, Penny."

When Dr. Crygor opened his mouth, Penny thought her hypnotism was working, but he ended merely sneezed. Penny patted her sick grandfather's head, "Well, we tried. Now what am I gonna do? Just go to the most fabulous, amazing and colossal circus without you?"

Her grandpa then grabbed her arms, saying, "I have a better idea. You stay here, you get sick too so that we can miss the circus and have no fun together. How's that sound?"

"That's a terrible idea!"

Penny took the two tickets and sighed, "I have no intention to be sick nor miss the circus, which I really, really want to see!"

Dr. Crygor was hurt and said, "Fine! Go! I'll just be sick, miss the circus and have no fun all by myself!"

Before leaving, his granddaughter grumbled, "Great. I'll try to bring you some of those circus peanuts you love so much."

* * *

When she made it, Penny looked down as she handed the tickets to a clerk named Nora, who asked her, "Penny J. Crygor?

"That's me."

"Where is the other person? Dr. William X. Crygor?"

Penny sighed, "Guess I won't need that other ticket."

"Sorry, no refunds."

Nora explained, "You'll be in Row A, seat 1. You're lucky, it's in the very front."

Once Penny was seated, the ringmaster called out from the middle of the stage, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the greatest show on Earth!"

It was the greatest show on Earth indeed. There were acrobats, jugglers, trapeze artists, tightrope walkers and even people being shot out of cannons. Penny was so entertained while watching the show and eating peanuts, she cried out, "Wow! Isn't this the greatest you've ever seen, grandpa?"

She turned and looked at the empty seat beside her, Penny had forgotten that Dr. Crygor couldn't come. Everyone was laughing the clowns except for Penny, who couldn't stop thinking about her granddad and started to cry. Penny's sobbing got the attention of Kat and Ana, who were sitting right behind her as the former asked, "Penny? What's wrong?"

The redhead sniffled as she turned to face the ninja toddlers, "Oh. Hey, Kat. Hey, Ana."

Kat asked again, "Why are you so sad? I thought the circus would make you happy."

"Not without my grandpa. I can't enjoy the circus while's he home and sick as a dog."

As Kat and Ana gave her a hug to make her feel better, Ana suggested, "If your grandpa can't visit the circus, why not have the circus visit him?"

That gave Penny an idea, "Wow, that's an excellent idea. I gotta go!"

Penny quickly left the show, making Kat say, "Wait! The circus isn't over yet!"

However, the redhead was gone.

* * *

Back at Dr. Crygor's lab, the old man was asleep in bed when he suddenly heard a voice outside that woke him up, "Ladies and gentlemen...and all inventors named Dr. Crygor!"

Dr. Crygor got out of bed and addressed the voice, "Hello? That is my name and I am an inventor."

He opened the front door and could not belivee what he saw, Penny was wearing a magician's outfit with a top hat as she announced, "Welcome to Penny's Star Circus!"

That made him jump up and down excitedly, "Where's the circus? Where is it? Where?!"

"It's me, grandpa! I'm the circus!"

Puzzled, Dr. Crygor pointed out, "You don't look like a circus. Where's the elephants, jugglers, clowns?"

"Just watch! For my first act, I shall attempt to balance ten 3DS systems on my head while juggling five Joy Cons."

Penny was quite the juggler, she performed for five minutes and didn't drop a single thing. Next, Penny said, "Now, prepare yourselves for the tightrope walk of dangerous danger!"

As she walked carefully on a tightrope, Dr. Crygor cringed in fear and covered his eyes, "That looks and sounds super scary. Tell me when you make it across! I can't watch!"

"Don't worry, grandpa. I just did."

"Phew."

Penny spent the ten to twenty minutes performing all the different acts she saw at the circus, including balancing on a ball, throwing pies at herself, pulling rabbits out of hats and having Mike jump through hoops. Then, Penny announced, "Now for the grand finale! A brave and handsome soul will be shot out of a cannon!"

Mike offered to be that handsome soul, Dr. Crygor shouted to him, "Be careful, Mike!"

The cannon blasted the robot over a hundred feet in the air. When Mike landed on the ground, he landed on his feet and struck a pose, having nailed the landing. Penny and Mike took a bow, Dr. Crygor clapped and cheered, "Bravo! Bravo! An extraordinary performance."

With Penny's arms around his neck, Dr. Crygor wrapped his around her back in a hug. He said, "I love you, Penny."

"I love you too, grandpa."

"That was a wonderful circus. Now how about I show you some circus tricks of my own?"

As he began riding on a unicycle, Penny smiled and asked, "Wait a minute, grandpa. Aren't you sick?"

"Not anymore. The circus cured me."

Dr. Crygor spent the next the hour or two doing some circus tricks, entertaining Penny and making her laugh.


	14. Family Vacation (Part 1)

Today was Grandparents Day at Diamond Academy. Dr. Crygor was eager was to dazzle Penny's friends and classmates, though Penny mentioned, "Please don't make a mess. I have to work with these people."

He assured her, "Relax, this invention will wow them for sure."

"I don't know if we need to let people see this."

"Come on, it'll be fun. I'm fun. I helped you work on this thing, so it should be flawless this time."

"What if you say or do something that embarrasses me?"

"I'm promise I won't."

Penny's first period teacher began, "Ok, seniors. We'd all love to share in your wisdom and experience. Penny, would your grandpa like go to first?"

Dr. Crygor headed up to the front, carrying a briefcase. He cleared his throat and started, "Greetings, young hooligans."

Some people giggled, Penny cringed a bit as she felt a little embarrassed already, Dr. Crygor resumed, "Who here wants to a singer when they grow up?"

Half the class raised their hands, Penny was one of them and her grandpa kept going, "Now, I'm sure it would take a lot of practice to get your singing voices to be pitch perfect, but what I have may be a shortcut to audible gold, but I can't take all the credit for this. The original version of this was Penny's idea."

Opening the briefcase, he pulled a test tube sealed with a cork, announcing, "Behold, the Tonally Transformative Elixir 2.0! It will 100% not cause any stomachaches or taste like fermented dishwater."

Penny said, "No! You don't have to tell them that!"

Some people started laughing a little.

Unlike the original version, the new one was not boiling and brown, it was red and room temperature. Dr. Crygor drank it and his voice was much higher pitched, "Oh! My voice, the tonality is effervescent! The elixir tastes better too."

Now Penny's classmates were intrigued, some saying, "Wow! He sounds great!"

However, Dr. Crygor had a severe stomachache...again. Penny brought her Super Specialized Tummy Tonic in case of emergency for him to drink. It took a few minutes for him to feel better and he failed to keep his big mouth shut, "Do not drink this. You'll regret it."

Her students started laughing again, Penny returned to her desk and buried her face in it, humiliated over the ordeal as a few people heckled her for making a concoction that caused stomach pain.

* * *

After school, Penny locked herself in her room, embarrassed over being called out for her elixir. Dr. Crygor explained from outside, "Come on, Penny. I didn't mean to humiliate you."

She asked, "Then why did you bring up the stomachaches?"

"To...caution everyone?"

"Ugh! I knew you were embarrassing and not fun!"

"That's not true. I am fun!"

"How can I be sure?"

"Uh...you wanna go on a fun family vacation for the weekend? I can take you to some pretty fun places."

Taking a few minutes to contemplate, Penny agreed, "...ok."

* * *

Once they packed up, Penny and Dr. Crygor hit the road. However, some time after leaving town, someone speeding behind them hit their car. They screamed as they spun out of control and crashed the car into a forest. Thankfully, they were completely unharmed, but now they had to walk and get their car towed.

Long story short, they had quite a trek. Some birds kept bothering Penny as she shooed them away from her neck. Also, Dr. Crygor was bitten by a thankfully harmless snake, he sprained both of his knees and almost fell in a lake.

When they got out of the forest, Penny thought they saw their hotel. However, Dr. Crygor directed her to a lower quality motel, making her a little underwhelmed. It was a good thing they made it on time. After checking in, they cleaned themselves up and Penny looked around for something to do. Nothing good was on TV and all they had was a pool and hot tub. Dr. Crygor said, "Well, I'm not embarrassing you. That a plus, right?"

Penny sighed, "I guess."

"You wanna get some refreshment from the vending machine?"

"No thanks. I'll just go swimming."

As soon as Penny changed into her swimsuit and went to the pool, Dr. Crygor noticed his car was towed to a repair shop that was conveniently located right across the street. Once he got the car back, he saw a store with music CDs and decided to stop there for a bit, looking at songs that Penny might like.

* * *

Hours later, it was almost closing time at the motel pool. Penny got out, dried off and changed back into her normal clothes when she went back into the motel room. Then, she found her grandpa asleep on a chair, a CD cover in one hand and a pen in the other. She looked at the CD cover, it was Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA, Penny's favorite song. That surprised her, "Is this...for me?"

Amazed, she looked at the sticky note on the CD cover that Dr. Crygor wrote, it read, "A fun favorite song purchased by a hopefully fun old man. Love always, your grandpa."

Penny smiled, touched that Dr. Crygor got her the song she always wanted, she thought that maybe her grandfather was kind of fun after all. Putting the song on her bed, Penny turned off the lights, happily wrapped one of his arms around her as she sat on his lap and snuggled, whispering before sleeping, "Good night, grandpa."

Dr. Crygor smiled, pleased that he made Penny happy as he wrapped his other arm around her, holding her close while saying in his sleep, "Good night, Penny."


	15. Family Vacation (Part 2)

The next morning, Penny and Dr. Crygor checked out and drove onwards. Penny was happily listenting to her song in the car with some headphones to avoid distracting her grandpa.

After hearing the whole song from start to finish five times, Dr. Crygor asked, "Guess where we're headed?"

"Where?"

"Look right in front you, it's dead ahead."

Penny looked an saw a huge carnival and gasped, "Really?! We're going to the..."

However, they instead ended up going to something called the World's Largest Wallet, making Penny sad, "...World's Largest Wallet?"

Dr. Crygor marveled at it, "Can you believe you they made one that giant? It's bigger than a house!"

Penny was not pleased, another family parked there, Dr. Crygor said, "See, Penny? This is the hottest spot in town."

One of the family members told him, "Nah, we just need to find a place park for the carnival. No one wants to see that wallet, it's a big piece of boredom."

As the family headed for the carnival, Dr. Crygor scoffed, "Please. Who wants to go to a carnival?"

His granddaughter stated, "I do because carnivals are fun. There's one right over there, but you're ignoring it because you have no idea what fun is!"

Penny started yelling, jumping up and down like a child as she berated him, "...BECAUSE YOU'RE NO FUN!"

Her grandpa was shocked and hurt by her outburst. By the time Penny realized what she did, she covered her mouth in embarrassment before she hugged him, saying, "I'm sorry, grandpa. I didn't mean it."

However, her words crushed poor grandpa, whose heart cracked like a peanut. He glumly said, "No, you're right. I am no fun. I'm just an old fool that can't do anything except cause embarrassment."

"Grandpa, I..."

"Please let me finish. I may be no fun, but that's gonna change, starting now. I'll show you just how fun I can be."

"Really?"

"Yes. Let's go to the carnival and have a grand time."

He took Penny's hand and led them, saying, "Carnival, here we come!"

* * *

Once they got inside, Penny looked at all the rides and games. Dr. Crygor asked, "What do you wanna first? Petting zoo, magic show?"

Penny looked around and thought, "How about some cotton candy?"

"Say no more."

After paying for two cotton candies, her grandpa looked at some games, Penny saw one in particular with oversized teddy bears and stuffed bunnies, she gasped, "Look at those prizes."

Dr. Crygor asked, "You wanna play for them?"

"Sure do."

The carnival game they played had a ball and cups in assorted colors arranged like rings of varying sizes. The inner ring was red, then there was a yellow ring, then green, then the outer ring was blue. Inside the red ring was a rainbow cup, whoever could land a ball in there would get all of the prizes. Penny missed, but Dr. Crygor had a perfect aim and won everything, astounding her granddaughter, "Wow! That was incredible, grandpa!"

He chuckled, "It was nothing, nothing but luck."

In order to carry every prize, the guy who hosted the game offered them a wheelbarrow to carry their prizes. Penny and Dr. Crygor continued their winning streak at the ring toss, balloon dart game, shooting fake animals with targets on them and knocking down milk bottles. They won so many prizes that the wheelbarrow was overflowing.

Having won every game, Penny asked her old man with a smirk, "How are you good at these games? I don't think it's pure luck."

"Ok, you got me, it's not luck. I played these games a LOT since I was your age. I played them so much that I had a lot of skill."

"Wow. Maybe you're more fun than I thought."

"Really? Aw. You wanna go on some rides?"

"Yes."

They had to leave their prizes outside the rides as they went on the ferris wheel, merry go round, tunnel of love and the ride with chairs flying around in circles. When it was time for the roller coaster, Penny and Dr. Crygor took the time to look at it. It was called Death Train, it had at least a dozen huge drops and a few loops, there was even loop inside a loop.

Penny looked at her grandpa, who said, "I don't think we have to do this. Seems kinda dangerous, I'm actually terrifed."

She put a hand on his shoulder and told him, "You can get over your fear of roller coasters, can't you?"

"I don't know."

"Just like how you helped get over my fear of shots?"

"Uh..."

"No pressure. Take your time to think."

He took some time to ponder, then decided, "Ok. Let's go."

Thankfully, there was no line. Also, the Death Train was even designed like a train, Penny and Dr. Crygor got in the front car. After the whole train was filled, the ride started. When they got to the top, they looked down and were frightened by how high they were, feeling like they made a mistake, but it was too late to turn back.

Going down the first few drops, everyone screamed. As they kept plummeting down more drops and went in loops, Dr. Crygor screamed, "I'm sorry I brought this on us!"

Penny screamed, "I'm sorry I pushed you into it!"

Holding onto each other for dear life, Penny and Dr. Crygor kept their eyes closed for the remainder of the ride, the wind on their faces was a clear indication of what was happening. When it felt like they stopped moving, Penny opened one eye to be sure the ride was over, but it wasn't.

Going down one more huge drop, that was when the ride was officially over. Dr. Crygor asked his granddaughter without looking, "Is it over?"

"It is now."

As the train pulled into the loading and unloading station, Penny and Dr. Crygor felt a little dizzy as they got out, the redhead giggled, "Now that was legit fun."

Her grandfather chuckled, "It actually was. I'm gonna go again!"

By the time Dr. Crygor got on the ride a second time, some of Penny's classmates saw her. Two were male and one was female, one of the boys asked as he looked at the wheelbarrow full of prizes, "Did your old man get you all this cool stuff?"

Penny smiled, "Yes. My grandpa played a lot of carnival games."

The other man lamented, "Man, my parents would never let me have this many prizes. Where is he anyway?"

"He went on the Death Train again."

The female was surprised, "Again? He must be super brave for someone his age."

"Guess he is."

"Maybe your grandpa isn't totally embarrassing after all."

"Really?"

They all told her, "He's actually fun."

Happy with what she heard, Penny embraced them all, saying, "Thank you all."

She gave them some of her prizes, then waited for grandpa to exit the ride. He came back and asked, "Anything else you wanna do?"

Penny said with a smile, "Nope. I think we have accomplished a lot today."

She then embraced her granddad, saying, "You're the funnest grandpa I know. Even my classmates think so too."

Dr. Crygor hugged her back, "Thank you, Penny. That means a lot from you."

"Can you forgive me for getting angry?"

"Oh, Penny. You don't need to apologize and there's nothing to forgive. You're a sweet little angel with a heart of gold. Let's go home."

With's Penny right hand holding Dr. Crygor's left, they happily exited the carnival and drove back to Diamond City, both listening to Miley Cyrus along the way.


	16. Shoplifting

Penny and Dr. Crygor went to Joe's Clothes, a pretty pink dress caught Penny's eyes, it looked even nicer than the one that was ruined. She asked her grandpa, "Can we get it? Please? It'll replace the one that was ruined."

Dr. Crygor bluntly said, "No. It's too expensive."

Looking at the price tag, it had 200 coins crossed out and had 50 coins and 75% off printed on the tag, Penny pointed out, "No, it's not, it's cheap."

"You don't need it. Now let's go."

"But-"

"Don't talk back to your grandpa."

Sighing in defeat, Penny followed her grandpa to the checkout, Mike came with them and stopped her, suggesting, "Just take it."

Penny gasped, "Mike, are you crazy? Shoplifting will get us arrested!"

"How else can you get that dress you really want?"

"Just forget it."

However, when saw some of her friends and classmates getting dresses and feeling pretty, she felt like she was missing out when one classmate asked, "You plan getting a dress, Penny? Like, you totally need one after your last one got ruined."

She slowly reconsidered, asking Mike, "Where can you hide the dress?"

Mike had a secret compartment in his back and hid the dress in there. They exited the store without any security equipment loudly blaring. Penny sweated a little as she left, she really wanted the dress, but felt that stealing it may have been a bad idea.

* * *

At night, Penny couldn't sleep very well, she heard wailing sirens from police cars and helicopters passing overhead, Dr. Crygor's lab was surrounded. Red and blue lights flashed as Dr. Crygor, Mike and Doris were arrested, Penny gasped, "Oh no!"

In court, the three of them were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The pounding a judge's gavel and the slamming of a jail cell door made Penny wake up from her nightmare, she didn't see or hear police cars, but she whimpered to herself, "What have I done?"

* * *

At Dr. Crygor's lab, Penny knocked on the door and asked, "Grandpa, I need to talk to you..."

"About what?"

Penny opened Mike's secret compartment, revealing the stolen dress, shocking and angering her grandpa, "Penny?! Where did that come from?!"

She looked embarrassed, "I asked Mike to hide it. I stole it."

"Why?!"

"I just wanted it so badly. I know it was wrong but my friends and classmates at Diamond Academy had dresses and...I couldn't help it."

Dr. Crygor grumbled, "Great. Just great. A stolen dress is right here in my lab! Thanks a lot, young lady!"

Mike tried to play peacemaker, "Let's all just calm do-"

"SHUT UP, MICHAEL! I'll deal with you later, so you stay here. Right now, I have give it back and teach my granddaughter a lesson."

He and Penny went to give back the stolen dress, Mike stayed behind, feeling bad and remembering that it was his fault for suggesting shoplifting, the robot felt like he really screwed things up.

* * *

After Dr. Crygor returned the dress, Joe was not happy, "This is heavy. How could this happen?"

The old man muttered, "Apparently, Mike's secret compartment can let you take unpaid items out of the store undetected."

"Penny, I hope you learned something from all this."

The redhead sighed, "I know it was a dumb thing to do. I'm sorry."

Back at Penny's lab, Dr. Crygor scolded her, "I am very disappointed in you, Penny. You could have gotten us all thrown in jail!"

Penny looked down in shame, "I'm disappointed in me, too."

"You're going to have a long time to think about what you did to the store, to me and to yourself. Now go to your room!"

Sadly, Penny walked into her room, Dr. Crygor then instructed Doris, "Don't let her out of your sight."

* * *

Back at Dr. Crygor's, he berated Mike while wielding a wrench, saying, "Well, Michael, any last words before I disassemble and sell you piece by piece?!"

Mike tried to reason with him, "You're really going to kill me just because I helped Penny get something she really wanted?"

"Letting me kill you is the only way you can make amends with me! Would you rather be abandoned in Agate Forest?!"

"Seriously, calm the fuck down. Don't you think you're being a little too rash?"

Dr. Crygor didn't know how to react, "..."

"Look, I admit I made a mistake, but Penny shouldn't be dragged down because of me. All she wanted a pink dress, was that so wrong?"

His expression softened a little, "I...guess not."

"None of it was her fault, shoplifting was my suggestion. You shouldn't punish her for something I did."

Dr. Crygor slowly but surely calmed down as Mike explained, "If you get rid of me, how will I ever make it up to everyone else, especially Penny?"

The old man stammered, "Well..."

Mike concluded, "You know we had no ill intentions, right?"

Sighing, Dr. Crygor put the wrench away and said, "I guess maybe I'm being a little harsh."

Mike said, "If anyone should be sorry about this whole mess, it's me."

They both hugged it out, Dr. Crygor decided to spare his life and then thought, "Maybe if Penny promises never to steal again, I suppose I'm willing to get her that dress."

The robot assured him, "I know I'll never steal again."

* * *

Back at Joe's Clothes, Dr. Crygor got the dress and asked Joe, "Do I still 75% off the dress? This time, it will obtained legally."

Joe said, "Yep. The discount still applies."

"Terrific. Hopefully, my generosity will make Penny stop shoplifting forever."

"I'm sure it will and I'm sure she'll really appreciate your forgiveness."

* * *

While Penny simply sat on her bed, looking ashamed and remorseful for her crime. Dr. Crygor knocked on Penny's door with a shopping bag in his hand, saying, "Penny? We should talk."

Doris opened and let him in. Penny asked, "What is it, grandpa?"

He sat down next to her and explained, "I've been thinking. Maybe I was being a little too hard on you. Seeing how you meant no harm and how much you loved that dress, I suppose I could forgive and forget just this once. If you promise to never steal again, I'm...willing to rescind your punishment immediately and let you have the dress."

Dr. Crygor gave her the bag with dress inside, making Penny ecstatic, she hugged her grandpa in sheer joy, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much! I promise, no more shoplifting! You're the best!"

He hugged her back, smiling, "I'm just happy you learned your lesson and I hope appreciate what I'm doing for you."

"I really do."

* * *

Hours after everything was resolved, Penny happily tried on her dress, saying to herself, "I'll never let anything happen to it."

Penny spent the whole night reveling how pretty and adorable she looked in her new dress, vowing to let nothing happen to it. She shared a picture of it with friends and classmates at Diamond Academy, they thought Penny looked cute.

Thankfully, Joe was nice enough to not ban her from his shop, though he had much more aggressive security so people would not take stuff out of the store as easily.


	17. Singing Competition

Penny was really looking forward to the singing competition at Diamond Academy. To prepare, she asked Dr. Crygor to test out the Tonally Transformative Elixir 3.0, which looked and smelled like orange soda. However, Dr. Crygor was worried that he might get another stomachache, "But Penny, I don't think this is a good idea."

She said, "Come on, grandpa. I promise, there'll be no stomachaches."

Dr. Crygor sighed and tried it, his voice was more high pitched than last time, Penny remarked, "You sound great, grandpa."

"I still don't know about this."

"Do you feel any different?"

"Not really, but I'm expecting something bad to happen."

* * *

What followed immediately was Dr. Crygor getting sick and throwing up, Penny shrieked, "EWW!"

After her grandpa puked, Penny asked nervously, "Does your stomach hurt?"

Dr. Crygor moaned in pain, "No..."

"That's a step in the right direction, right?"

"Penny, please stop making voice elixirs."

"But grandpa..."

"No! It can't be done, do you even know when to quit?! Every attempt is a disaster and this was strike three! I'm out, I'm not testing your poisons anymore! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go lie down. Do me a favor and ABANDON YOUR DESIRE TO SING!"

That last sentence hurt Penny's feelings. Once grandpa was gone, Penny buried her face in her bed and cried, heartbroken that grandpa slammed her dreams of being a pop star.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mike was nursing Dr. Crygor back to health, giving him Tylenol and other medicines. When he felt better, he decided to call Penny, but the call immediately went to voicemail, confusing him. He called a few more times and the phone still did not ring, making him a little concerned as he gulped, "Uh oh."

Mike asked, "What did you do?"

"Well, Penny's latest voice elixir made me throw up and I may or may not have...told her to stop wanting to be a singer."

The robot facepalmed and said, "Sounds like someone overreacted."

Dr. Crygor felt a little guilty for what he said Penny, seeing how passionate she was about singing and how he was no longer willing to support her just because her experimental catalyst for audible gold always got disastrous results. He thought that he should patch things up.

* * *

The next day, Dr. Crygor visited Penny in her lab and saw that she was still weeping on her bed, still crestfallen by her grandpa's harsh words. He sat on her bed and asked, "Penny?"

Penny stopped weeping and sniffled, "What now?"

"I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean to hate your love of singing."

"If you didn't that, you never would have said that."

"I know, but let me explain something to you."

"What?"

"You don't really need a potion to alter your voice, what you really need is to believe in yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Between you and me, I think your singing voice is already perfect."

The redhead was surprised to hear that, she sat up and asked, "You...really think so?"

"Exactly, think about it. Remember when you sung wonderfully at Club Joe to draw a huge crowd without needing to drink your homemade concoction?"

"Yes."

"You didn't need your TTE then, you don't need it now. All you really need is faith, if you can sing amazingly at Club Joe, I think you can do just fine with needing to change your voice."

Penny was moved by her grandpa's words and sniffled, "Oh, grandpa."

They shared a hug as they resolved their issue.

* * *

The night of the dance soon arrived. Penny looked so good in her pink dress with her orange hair and blue eyes that almost matched. Dr. Crygor was really quite proud to be seen with her as he had his dark blue tux on and they made their entrance. She really did look that adorable, Penny looked like a princess to him, she even still had on that necklace he gave her on her birthday, just like the dance off.

As for the singing competition at Diamond Academy, they were several banquet rooms, but they soon found the correct one. They were really quite taken aback when they entered the room. There was a band playing and sharply dressed waitresses serving drinks. Just like the father daughter dance off, everything looked fancy.

All the male students and fathers were looking rather sharp while the female students and mothers looked quite lovely in their dresses and gowns. The old banquet room itself was extremely ornate, with large crystal chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. The whole effect was quite spectacular and rather breathtaking.

Penny and Dr. Crygor sat down at a table and good view of the band and the dance floor from where they were sitting. Several other students were dressed in a satin black dress, others sported different colored dresses with diamond earrings that dangled from their ears while others were showing off their high heels, other had dapper tuxedos. After the elegantly dressed waitresses brought around trays of hors d'oeuvres and took everyone's drink orders, the band took a break.

Henry, the principal of Diamond Academy served as the host and stood prominently on the stage to make a small speech. It was basically the usual canned speech about how good everyone looked and how proud he was of the students. After the speech, the principal explained how the singing competition was after dinner and how everyone would get a chance to show off their stuff.

As the food was quite delicious and wonderfully presented, everything was in fact so good, it was almost enough to draw everyone's attention away from the contest. Principal Henry announced, "Again, thank you all for coming. It's great to have this many students. While we celebrate another year of Diamond Academy, let us all take a moment to remember the students that are no longer with us."

A large screen showed the words, "In Loving Memory of our Dear Students."

The song that played was "What the World Needs Now is Love."

Then, the screen showed a male student sobbing hysterically as he emptied his locker. Underneath was the caption: EXPELLED! Attended from 9/2010 - 1/2011.

Next, the screen showed a female student being sent away by an angry and disappointed Henry. Underneath was the caption: FORCED TO TRANSFER! Attended from 9/2012 - 2/2014.

Then, the screen showed a male student at a table near the stage picking his nose. The principal glared as he turned on a spotlight, exposing the student's filthy actions, making him realize, "Wait! That's me!"

As a buzzer sounded, the male student panicked, "No no no no AAAAHHHHH!"

When Henry pressed a button, he and his family screamed as their chairs were dropped into some trap doors above the seats. The seats came back up a second later without the family. Underneath was the caption: SUPER EXPELLED! Attended from ? - Today.

The student who just got kicked out of school and his family slid down a garbage chute and landed in a half full dumpster.

Finally, the singing competiton was underway. It started off with a girl singing, "Let It Go."

At the end, she got three 8s from the judges for a total of 24.

As students sung, the progression of time combined with the open bar was making for somewhat of a real party atmosphere. The highest score so far was 29, given to a boy that sung, "I Believe I Can Fly."

Once Penny and Dr. Crygor were up, she gulped nervously as Dr. Crygor assured her, "No matter what happens, we still have each other. Even if you lose, it'll still be fun to participate. Remember, let it come from the heart."

Feeling a little more confident, Penny sung, "Dreams to Dream."

Penny really enraptured the crowd, the students, the faculty, even the judges. She managed to sound almost exactly like Sarah Lasko.

All the cheering had gotten louder, the loudest it had ever been all night. Penny got a perfect score of 30 and won. In addition to a huge trophy, Penny got another little princess tiara to wear. She hugged her tightly, beaming, "You were right, grandpa! Guess I don't need an elixir after all."

"All you needed was some encouragement."

They continued taking bows for their cheering audience. When they left, they looked like star baseball players leaving the field as people whistled and clapped.


	18. Bad Memories on Christmas

It was December, the month of Christmas, December 20 to be exact. Penny looked at a picture frame of her deceased parents, Benjamin "Benny" and Jennifer "Jenny" Crygor. She also looked at one with her adult brothers, Kenneth "Kenny" and Leonard "Lenny" Crygor, while playing Anne Murray's "You Needed Me."

Reminiscing her infancy, Penny also looked at a newspaper depicting a plane crash. Tears filled her eyes as she recounted how her family loved her very much and how she unexpectedly lost most of them.

Halfway throught the song, Dr. Crygor was doing the same thing, looking at picture frames of his dead wife Marylyn and his daughter Jenny, remembering the good times he had being a husband and father, then remembering the day Penny was born and wanting to the best grandfather he could be.

He also had same news story with the plane accident. His daughter was Penny's mother and she looked almost exactly like Penny. Once the song ended, Dr. Crygor sobbed hysterically at the memory of losing everyone except his granddaughter.

* * *

At the Diamond City Cemetary, it rained as Penny put flowers on Benny, Kenny and Lenny's graves, Dr. Crygor put some on Marylyn and Jenny's. Penny then sounded sad as she mourned, "Over a decade ago today. God, I miss them. It's just so tragic to have them all dead at an early age."

Dr. Crygor concurred, "Something equally tragic is when a parent sees a son or daughter die before the parent dies. Moms and dads would usually be dead before sons and daughters."

"I just want them back."

"Me too, but we both know can't have them back after what happened to them. They wouldn't want us to be miserable, they'd want to move on with our lives."

"I know."

After a few moments of silence, Penny and Dr. Crygor departed from the cemetary and Penny said, "We should hurry. We're gonna be late for the Christmas party at Club Joe."

* * *

The scene cuts to Club Joe during the Christmas party in the evening. Inside, there were tons of guests enjoying the party, Jimmy T, Mona, Dribble, Spitz, 5-Volt, Ashley, 18-Volt, Kat, Ana, 9-Volt, Young Cricket, Master Mantis, Orbulon and Fronk.

Soon, Penny and Dr. Crygor arrived, saying, "Merry Christmas!"

Joe greeted them, "You made it!"

Once everyone exchanged gifts, a disco ball on the ceiling turned on, giving off a soft silver glow as Mona encouraged everyone, "This is a party, let's have some fun!"

A montage ensues, with different scenes of Penny, Dr. Crygor and all of their pals partying. They danced under the disco ball. A small conga line with Penny, Dr. Crygor and three others formed and the Crygors even danced together like in a father-daughter dance. Mona, Dribble and Spitz had some eggnog, Kat and Ana played with two gingerbread men and Jimmy T kept dancing. 5-Volt, 9-Volt and 18-Volt served as the party's deejays and everyone else just ate some food until they were full.

Then, the montage ended. The kids were all conversing by the refreshments table. Ashley asked Mona, "Your family still doesn't have time for you, huh?"

Mona bemoaned, "Sadly, no. Being famous and seeing the world like an artist and supermodel would means you don't have time for sons or daughters. What about you, Ashley? Were your parents unable to make it too?"

Ashley droned, "I didn't even ask if they wanted to come, I...spend so much time away from them that I sometimes forget about them. What about the others?"

Kat and Ana said, "Our parents don't really like parties."

Penny noticed everyone looking at her, Young Cricket asked, "Penny, you never told us about your mom and dad. What can you tell us about them?"

9-Volt added, "Why couldn't they come either?"

The redhead looked at them and stammered, "Uh...uh...I...I...I..."

Cricket was a little concerned, "Is something wrong?"

Penny finally confessed, "...aside from grandpa, I...I...never had a family."

Mona, Ashley, Cricket, 9-Volt, Kat and Ana's eyes widened, all of them shocked at her revelation, Ashley asked "What did you say?"

The redhead said, "I...don't have a mom or a dad."

Kat asked, "Why not?"

Penny teared up a little, "I never told anybody this before, but...when I was just a little baby, my mom, my dad, my older brothers, even my grandma...all died in a plane accident. It's just been grandpa and me ever since."

Everyone became more shocked. Holding back tears, Penny told them, "Over a decade ago, one of my cousins was getting married and the whole family went to attend the wedding, but I was too sick to go, so grandpa babysat me. Then...then...the plane they were on crashed. It was confirmed that...no one survived."

Everyone gasped, the redhead then sniffled, "The plane crashed in the middle of the ocean, so all of the corpses were lost at sea. Since then, only grandpa took care of me...and...and if I lost him too, I...I..."

When Penny started weeping, Mona and Ashley hugged her, comforting her as Mona said, "At least you still have your grandpa. I bet he's a really good caregiver, giving you everything you need, clothes, food, education. We're sorry you lost everyone else."

As Kat, Ana, 9-Volt and Cricket all hugged Penny, she cried profusely as everyone consoled her. Penny grieved for five minutes while her friends reassured her that everything would be alright. Once Penny calmed down, Ashley said, "I'm sure they're still in your heart and still with you in spirit. They wouldn't want you to break down in tears over how they lost their lives, they'd want you to enjoy every minutes of yours."

Penny sniffled, "You're right."

Young Cricket assured her while drying her tears, "Just know that as our friend, we all love you."

"Thank you all."

9-Volt added, "Do everything you can to protect yourself and your grandpa."

The redhead said, "Ok, I will."

She felt a little better. Soon, Penny was able to finally turn her frown upside down and they all had some more food.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dr. Crygor felt like a wreck as he shared his story with the others, Jimmy T, Dribble, Spitz, 5-Volt, 18-Volt, Master Mantis, Orbulon and Fronk. He finished it with, "...I never saw my wife, my daughter, my son in law or my grandsons again after the plane crash. Penny's all I have left and I'm all she has left too. If she was gone, I would never forgive myself and I don't know what she would do if I died."

Jimmy comforted him, "Hey, I'm sure you're a great caretaker for Penny. You did a good job raising her, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

5-Volt reassured him, "You're a good grandfather since you're always there for Penny."

Mantis added, "I don't know any other grandparent as devoted as you."

Everyone held Dr. Crygor in a group hug, when they separated, Dribble said, "Just don't let anything bad happen to her or to you."

Dr. Crygor grinned, "I sure won't."

* * *

When it was time to go home, it was pretty late at night, Penny and Dr. Crygor stayed close as they walked home, remembering how they promised themselves to not let anything bad happen to themselves or each other.


	19. Dr Crygor's (Last?) Birthday

Today was Dr. Crygor's birthday and who better to commerate the occasion than his granddaughter? Penny stopped by her grandpa's laboratory as he was doing some experiments with Mike and Doris 1, she knocked on the door and happily greeted him, "Happy birthday, grandpa!"

Dr. Crygor hugged her granddaughter tightly, making Penny giggle nervously, "Ok, grandpa. Thanks for the affection."

"You're welcome."

"You birthday party is so exuberantly great! It'll astound you!"

"I know you'll have something great."

"See you tonight."

She left, assuring herself that the party would be great. However, deep down inside, Penny was a nervous wreck since she didn't enough money to afford good gifts or even pay for a nice dinner. At Club Joe, Penny kept struggling to come up with some ideas, which got Jimmy T.'s attention, "Yo, Penny, you seem a little. What's wrong, kid?"

Penny said, "It's grandpa's birthday."

"And?"

"I don't know what to get him or where to take him. I really want his birthday to be perfect."

Seeing her ordeal, Jimmy put a hand on Penny's shoulder and suggested, "How about right here in this club? I'm sure that no matter what, he'll be pleased with your efforts."

Mona chimed in, "We can make sure it goes well and help you find the best presents. That way, your grandpa will appreciate everything."

The redhead smiled at their generosity and said, "Crygorian genius! With your assistance, this year can't possibly fail!"

Jimmy chuckled, "You sound a little bit like your old man."

* * *

In the afternoon, WarioWare employees were pitching in to help Penny throw the best birthday party ever. 5-Volt, 9-Volt and 18-Volt took Penny to the mall to look at lots of cool stuff. They bought some present for Dr. Crygor and brought them to the club.

Meanwhile, back at Club Joe, Mona took care of the refreshments, Jimmy, Dribble and Spitz were in charge of music, Ashley handled the decorations, Kat and Ana set up chairs and tables. Also, Cricket, Mantis and Orbulon wrapped all the presents that eveyone bought while Wario mostly waited by the food and drinks, impatient as he wanted a bite to eat.

Ashley finished Dr. Crygor's ice sculpture, monotonously saying, "Ta da. It's a true masterpiece."

Jimmy organized the playlist, "Man, there are lots of cool choices for songs to play."

Kat and Ana said, "It all looks great."

Cricket and Mantis said, "We think so too."

Everyone else voice their agreement and satisfaction, Wario was taking a nap when Mona woke him up and he asked, "What'd I miss?"

Mona told him, "Everything."

"Whatever. I'm hungry."

"No eating. Not until they gets here."

"..."

* * *

At night, 5-Volt, 9-Volt and 18-Volt saw Dr. Crygor and told Penny, "Here he comes, Penny. Do you have your present?"

Penny looked at the table with presents on it, saw hers and verified, "Yes I do, now get into position, everybody."

Dr. Crygor opened the door and everyone said in unison, "Surprise! Happy birthday, Dr. Crygor!"

He stood there, surprised by how everything looked, pink streamers and balloons were flooding the ceiling. The ice sculpture looked fantastic, banners with white letters covered the walls and the huge chocolate cake looked delicious. The redhead looked at her grandfather and asked, "You like it? I made it all with the help of everyone."

After a moment of silence, the old man finally answered, "I...love it! This is incredible! It might be your best effort yet!"

"Oh, grandpa..."

The Crygors embraced, 9-Volt and 18-Volt were working a deejay system, playing the first song on the list, Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus, which Penny even sung while partying with her friends and loved ones as people ate and danced, saving the chocolate for last.

Soon, it was time for slow dancing, a disco ball rotated above everyone Penny and Dr. Crygor did some ballroom dancing as everyone watched, Dr. Crygor asked his granddaughter, "Penny? How did you do all this?"

"Well, I asked everyone to help me. I wanted it to be your best party yet."

"Penny?"

"What?"

"I think you have succeeded with flying colors and I can safely say you really came through, Penny. You're so sweet and adorable with a heart of gold. I'm proud to have a granddaughter like you."

People said, "Awwwww."

Penny was so happy that she could shed tears of joy then asked, "Grandpa, are you ready for cake?"

He replied, "You bet!"

As Penny and Jimmy T. carried one side, Mona and Cricket carried the other side as everyone sang, "Happy birthday to you!"

Dr. Crygor was astounded by how big the cake was, his face looked ecstatic, "Oh, you guys!"

Everyone kept singing, "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Dr. Crygor! Happy birthday to you!"

Penny smiled, "Make a wish, grandpa."

However, for some reason, Dr. Crygor looked like he couldn't move a muscle. He was as motionless as a statue, concerning Penny, who asked, "Grandpa?"

5-Volt gasped, "I think something's wrong with him."

9-Volt nervously swallowed, "Maybe the excitement was more than he could take."

Because Dr. Crygor still didn't move at all, Penny panicked, "Grandpa? Grandpa!"

She was beginning to feel scared because Dr. Crygor was still motionless, making Penny worry as she shook him, she cried out, "Help! Help! Someone call 911!"

Joe asked what was all the commotion, he saw Dr. Crygor completely frozen and said, "Uh oh."

Joe eventually called 911. While Penny was crying, Dr. Crygor still did not wake up, even when the police showed up, asking, "What happened?"

She had tears in her eyes again as Penny wrapped her arms around Dr. Crygor's neck and wept, "My grandpa is frozen and I can't get him to say or do anything! I feel like he's dead!"

Unfortunately, the cops that showed up looked and sounded apathetic and incompetent, saying, "That's an overstatement. Just let him stay here until he snaps out of his trance."

"I can't just leave him here!"

"Trust us, little girl. It'll be easier for everyone if no one worries about him and he helps himself."

Everyone protested, Penny whimpered, "But-"

"Hold that thought. We have a noise complaint on the other side of town."

The police also confiscated the cake and presents that Dr. Crygor never got a chance to open, saying, "Let's these out of his sight. He'd probably freeze again if he saw what was inside of these presents. Everyone out."

Nobody was going to argue any further, they all felt they would be arrested if they did. Once Joe locked up, Penny sniffled while seeing her poor grandpa locked inside and looking lifeless. In a few minutes, she ran off while feeling distraught, leaving everyone worried about what was going to happen, Dribble remarked, "What kind of cops thought this was a good idea?"

Ashley shook her head in disapproval and replied, "Cops that clearly don't know how to handle sitautions like these."

Young Cricket muttered, "We should consider getting them fired."

* * *

Back at Penny's lab, she had just finished packing up everything. With a duffel bag and a backpack full of clothes, electronic devices, picture frames and science equipment, Penny turned off the lights. Head lowered and tears streaming her cheeks, the now orphaned redhead walked to the Diamond City Orphanage. The female receptionist droned while working at the desk without looking at her, "Name?"

"...Penny Crygor."

"What happened?"

"My grandpa was...frozen to death."

"Open beds are on the third floor. The whole second floor is occupied."

Miserably trudging up the stairs to the third floor, Penny saw two rows of beds, 25 in each row and half of them were taken. Penny sat on the one closest to the window on the left row. She looked at a picture of Dr. Crygor and felt grief now that she officially lost all of her loved ones as Penny sniffled, "Story of my life. I tried to give grandpa the best birthday ever and now look where I am. He's gone...because of me. I...I...I'm the worst granddaughter ever."

Penny looked at the orphanage and its squalid surroundings, weeping, "This is where I belong."

Taking off her glasses and burying her face in her pillow, Penny started crying in the pillow, crying herself to sleep as it started to rain...


	20. Reunited

Dr. Crygor was still frozen in Club Joe. All throughout the rainy night, he had not moved a muscle. However, shortly after opening time, Joe, Mona and everyone else noticed his fingers were beginning to twitch a little. Mona gasped, "He's moving! It looks like he finally snapped out of his ecstatic immobilized state!"

Everyone watched closely, his whole body was moving again, his hand, arms, feet and legs seemed to be no longer immovable. Once Dr. Crygor was able to speak again, he looked around and asked, "What happened?"

The whole gang cheered with joy, the old man wasn't gone after all. As Joe, Mona, Dribble, Spitz, 5-Volt, 9-Volt, 18-Volt, Ashley, Red, Kat, Ana, Cricket, Mantis and Orbulon were all happy that Dr. Crygor was alive. He then restated his question, "Seriously, what happened last night?"

Jimmy T. chuckled nervously, "Funny story. You seemed so ecstatic when you saw a huge birthday cake that you froze with excitement."

"Really? Oh my. Where is it?"

Joe said, "The police confiscated it...and the presents...and locked you in here."

Dribble and Spitz blurted out, "We almost thought you were dead!"

9-Volt added, "You were like a statue, you didn't move a muscle!"

Dr. Crygor was embarrassed, "Oh dear. How long was I like that?"

18-Volt looked at his watch and answered, "About 12 hours, maybe 13."

Suddenly, Mike entered and admonished Dr. Crygor, "Where on Earth have you been?! You didn't come home last night! I was worried sick!"

Changing the subject, the old man asked, "Where's Penny?"

Ashley guessed, "Maybe at home, still asleep in her bed."

Kat said, "It's still pretty early in the morning."

Ana said, "Go to her, Penny will be excited to see that you're alive."

* * *

However, in Penny's Lab, Dr. Crygor gasped in horror when he saw it was empty and tried to find her, but grandpa could not as he panicked, "Penny! It's me, grandpa! I'm not dead!"

Her bedroom was empty too. Dr. Crygor screamed in fear, getting everyone's attention, Orbulon asking, "What has caused you to shriek in sheer terror?"

Dr. Crygor freaked out, "Penny's gone!"

5-Volt was puzzled, "It's not like her to disappear. She must be somewhere in town."

Young Cricket may have cracked the code, saying, "Where would someone go when they've lost all of their family members?"

Master Mantis then told Dr. Crygor, "Get directions for the Diamond City Orphanage. She must be there."

* * *

Meanwhile, at the orphanage, the orphaned Penny had cried herself to sleep. She also had pretty intense nightmares and was too tired to wake up, even after she heard a voice calling out, probably Kat's or Mona's, "Penny..."

Then, Dribble and Spitz called out, "Penny..."

That was when the female receptionist came to wake Penny up and say monotonously, "Get lost, kid. You're done here."

Penny whimpered, "But...but I don't have a family anymore."

She escorted Penny out, tossed out her bags and droned, "Just follow the voices, you'll find them."

Ashley called out, "Penny..."

While the whole gang headed for the orphanage, they also stopped to look left and right, even scattering to cover more ground just in case they thought Penny wasn't in the orphanage. Everyone checked everywhere to leave no stone unturned.

The redhead thought she was hearing things. When she heard 18-Volt and Ana call her name, Penny sighed and walked to where she thought the voices were coming from. Then, Jimmy T., 5-Volt, 9-Volt and Orbulon said her name. Cricket and Mantis also shouted, "Penny? Where are you?"

Dr. Crygor then said, "Penny? Penny?"

That was when Penny's eyes widened in surprise, she almost thought it was too good to be true as she silently said, "Grandpa? Grandpa? Grandpa!"

"Penny?"

Penny smiled and said, "Grandpa!"

All it took was her grandfather's voice to give Penny the gumption to find him, asking, "Where are you?"

When Dr. Crygor squinted, he looked at a wandering redhead from far away and it said, "Grandpa!"

The old man gasped happily, "Penny?"

Walking a little closer, he could see more clearly that it was his granddaughter and she was running towards him. Having finally found her, Dr. Crygor ran to her, happily calling out, "Pennyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"

Likewise, Penny called out, "I'm coming, grandpa!"

"Penny!"

"Grandpa!"

Penny jumped into Dr. Crygor's arms, making him fall backward on the ground as they happily reunited and embraced. Dr. Crygor sniffled as he tightly hugged his granddaughter, "Oh, Penny!"

The rest of the gang heard their voices too, Dr. Crygor happily announced as they all approached, "Everyone! Look! I found Penny!"

All the others eagerly hugged Penny and Dr. Crygor, overjoyed that the Crygor family was whole again. Penny held back her tears as she said, "Grandpa, I thought I lost you!"

However, when Penny let go of grandpa and sat on her knees, her voice cracked while saying, "I...I..."

Her eyes watered with tears streaming down her cheeks, her lips trembled and Penny began to cry, not out of happiness, but out of sadness. The way Penny was sobbing was when Dr. Crygor looked worried for his granddaughter, who was genuinely distraught.

As Dr. Crygor looked at how Penny was crying, he touched her face. Penny's eyes were wet and puffy, her cheeks felt positively soaked with tears dripping down from her chin onto the ground and her face was starting to crinkle up. Crygor removed Penny's glasses and dried her eyes, comforting her, "Penny, what's wrong?"

Penny choked between sobs while fighting back another round of tears, "I...I...I'm responsible for what happened to you! The way you became frozen...was because of me! This is all my fault!"

"Well, Penny, I..."

"You're really disappointed and angry at me, aren't you? After everything that's happened between us, you probably hate me by now and want to disown me by leaving me at the orphange, don't you?"

That caused everyone else to say things like "whoa, whoa, whoa", "hey, hey, hey" and "don't be silly."

When it looked like Penny was going to break down in tears again, Dr. Crygor reassured her, "Penny, I'm not angry or disappointed at all, I don't hate you and I don't intend to disown you. What irresposnible deadbeat abandons his own family?"

The fragile redhead whimpered, "Why wouldn't you get rid of me? My voice elixirs keep damaging your body, I ruined your barbecue that one time, there was the whole limousine incident, April Fool's day, you visiting my school, the family vacation, me shoplifting and now this. When am I ever gonna learn? You must think I'm a terrible granddaughter and want nothing more to do with me at this point."

Dr. Crygor cupped Penny's cheeks in his palms, wiping her eyes with his thumbs as he told the weeping redhead, "Penny, look at me."

Holding back her tears, Penny looked her grandpa in the eye as he explained, "I know deep down inside, you don't have any ill intentions or mean any harm. I know you're a good kid and a good granddaughter, but no child in the world is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. Parents and grandparents aren't perfect either, not even me, nobody is perfect."

"Grandpa, I'm so sorry for everything! Please forgive me! I...I..."

Crygor consoled her, "Penny, it's ok. There's nothing to forgive because there was nothing you needed to apologize for. A family's love should be unconditional and what's important is that we all learn from our mistakes. No matter how many times you let me down, I'll never stop loving you, just like how you never stop loving me no matter how many times I let you down, like how I got angry when you were too scared of shots or when I ate that chocolate bar off of the ground. Believe me, I will always love you no matter what."

Penny sniffled, "...ok. I'll always love you too."

Dr. Crygor opened his arms, saying, "Come here, my poor baby."

As Penny let Dr. Crygor hug her delicately, he consoled her as she wept, he caressed Penny's hair, kissed her forehead and whispered sweet sounds of "Shhhh", "It's okay" and "Just let it all out" into her ears. He even rocked Penny back and forth like a father would to an upset child. Penny slowly but surely regained her composure as Dr. Crygor lovingly held her in his arms, patted her back and stroked her hair, waiting for her sadness to repress as she wept into his shoulder.

In a few minutes, Penny stopped crying and finally quieted down, too tired to cry anymore. She rubbed at her face and wiped the last few tears away. Dr. Crygor put her glasses back on her face and asked, "Feel better, Penny?"

"A little. I just wish could give your birthday present right now, your birthday is ruined now, isn't it?"

Dr. Crygor held Penny more tightly with his arms around her back, wanting to hold her until the end of time as he told her, "Penny, all I need for my birthday...is your love. No present in the world is more important than having you in my life, I just want to be there for my sweet, adorable and bubbly granddaughter."

Penny smiled as her arms were around his neck, she felt so safe and wanted in his arms that she almost wished he would never let go of her and she said, "I love you, grandpa."

"I love you too, Penny."

Everyone said, "Awwwwwwww..."

After a few more minutes of slience and hugging it out, Dr. Crygor told her, "Come on, Penny. Let's go home. If you'd like, I can even move into your lab so you won't need to worry about being alone ever again."

"Please do. I need you since you're the only family I have left."

* * *

Penny returned home as Dr. Crygor, Mike and Doris moved into Penny's Lab. Their friends celebrated them being together again with a new birthday celebration. This time, Dr. Crygor asked them all not to get cake or presents to avoid another incident. The party lasted from late at morning to late at night (the Christmas break meant no school).

As soon as Dr. Crygor's Lab was empty, the old man sold it for a lot of money. In terms of sleeping arrangements, the guest room in Penny's lab became Dr. Crygor's bedroom. Now that they were living together under one roof, they wouldn't need to worry about each other's safety anymore.

* * *

At night, everyone had gone home. Penny was in her nightgown, getting ready for bed as Dr. Crygor tickled her and she tickled him back. They both laughed and squirmed as Crygor held Penny above his head and spun around, the redhead looked like she was flying as she laughed, "Grandpa, this is exhilarating!"

Soon, they started to playfully wrestle on Penny's bed. After calming down, Dr. Crygor tucked his granddaughter in and kissed her forehead. The redhead asked, "Grandpa, do you still love me?"

"Of course, Penny. I love you with all my heart. No matter what happens, our family bond will never be destroyed. As Whitney Houston said..."

Crygor screeched with his rather bad singing voice while trying to imitate Whitney, "I will always love you!"

Mike overheard and facepalmed, "There goes our happy ending."

Penny giggled, "I will always love you with all my heart too."

Once Penny went to sleep, her grandpa exited her room, but not before taking a moment to look at Penny sleeping soundly with a smile on her face and letting his heart swell. The redhead and her old man could rest easy, assured and reassured that their unconditional love would never die, Dr. Crygor slowly closed the door, saying to Penny, "Goodnight, my sweet little granddaughter. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, grandpa."

He closed the door and Penny happily slept like an angel.

THE END


End file.
